also  lis*ter*el*lo*sis  n, pl  -ri*o*ses  also  -lo*ses   :  a serious disease of a wide variety of animals including humans that is caused by a bacterium of the genus Listeria (L. monocytogenes) and that is often fatal in animals where it takes the form of a severe encephalitis accompanied by disordered movements but in humans is not usu. fatal except in neonates, the elderly, and the immunocompromised where in neonates it is often accompanied by granuloma formation, meningitis, meningoencephalitis, and septicemia and in adults by meningitis, bacteremia with chills and fever (esp. in pregnant women), and sometimes endocarditis - see CIRCLING DISEASE  .
 
 
 
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