UK obstetricians are urging clinicians to have a high index of suspicion for listeriosis in pregnancy after a rare case of fetal sepsis and death following maternal consumption of contaminated soft cheese. 

Their patient, aged in her early 20s, presented to the Leighton Hospital in Crewe complaining of exertional dyspnoea, severe abdominal pain, dry cough and episodes of reduced fetal movement. 

The woman had received no previous antenatal care, did not have a regular GP, and was estimated to be at 21 weeks’ gestation based on her last menstrual period. 

This was her third pregnancy and she had previously had two normal vaginal deliveries, the case doctors wrote in BMJ Case Reports.