Listeria can live in any place where food is ... Saliva enzymes can degrade bacterial cell walls. So can stomach acids and bile salts. Antibodies in our digestive tract can recognize and target ...

The Listeria bacterium can enter and survive within immune cells such as macrophages. L. monocytogenes is also capable of hijacking cellular machinery and tricking cells into drawing the bacterium ...

"Listeria isn't great at it, but it can grow." Just one or two listeria cells in a package of lunchmeat — with its often months-long shelf life — can grow to levels of illness under ...