Animal models of listeriosis: a comparative review of the current state of the art and lessons learned

1. Challenges in the study of listeriosis2. Pathophysiology of infections with Listeria monocytogenes3. Listeriosis in humans3.1 Neonatal listeriosis and pregnancy-associated listeriosis3.2 Listeriosis in adult and geriatric patients4. Naturally occuring listeriosis among domestic and non-domestic animals4.1 Listeriosis in ruminants4.2 Listeriosis in monogastric mammals other than non-human primates4.3 Listeriosis in non-human primates4.4 Listeriosis in birds5. Experimental infections before recognition as a foodborne disease5.1 Experimental infections in non-pregnant animals5.2 Experimental infections in pregnant animals6. Mouse models of non-pregnancy-associated listeriosis6.1 Susceptibility differences among mouse strains6.2 Pathogenicity differences among L. monocytogenes strains7. Species-specific interactions between internalines and host cells7.1 Interactions between E-cadherin and InlA7.2 InlB and its three receptors8. Other animal models of non-pregnancy-associated listeriosis8.1. Non-pregnant rat models8.2 Non-pregnant guinea pig models8.3 Non-pregnant rabbits as models of listeriosis8.4 Other non-pregnant rodent models8.5 Non-human primates as models of listeriosis9. Animal models of pregnancy- associated listeriosis9.1 Non-human primates as models of pregnancy-associated listeriosis9.2 Guinea pigs as models of pregnancy-associated listeriosis9.3 Other rodent models of pregnancy-associated listeriosis10. Geriatric models of listeriosis11. Conclusions and lessons learned11.1 Consequences for modeling L. monocytogenes dose-response12. Competing interests13. Authors' contributions14. Acknowledgements15. Endnotes16. ReferencesListeriosis, caused by the gram-positive, facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, is one of the leading causes of death due to foodborne illness in the industrialized world [1,2]. Listeriosis is a relatively rare but very serious disease, with an estimated hospitalization rate that exceeds 90% and a mortality rate of