Isolation and Identification of Listeria monocytogenes from Spontaneous Abortion Cases in Humans and its Association with Household Cattle: A Research Protocol

Introduction: Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a Gram-positive bacterium responsible for listeriosis, a foodborne disease causing significant health problems, especially for pregnant women. During pregnancy, immune modulation increases the vulnerability to infections, resulting in severe complications such as spontaneous abortions. Rural populations are disproportionately affected due to poor sanitation, limited healthcare access, and close human-animal interactions. Need of the study: Studying the association between humans and household cattle is important, as household cattle can carry and transmit the L. monocytogenes, a zoonotic pathogen that may spread through contaminated food, water and contribute to spontaneous abortions in humans. Aim: To investigate the association between L. monocytogenes in women with spontaneous abortions and their household cattle. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study will be conducted at Datta Meghe Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The study for human samples will be conducted from January 2025 to December 2026, and this study will recruit 385 women aged 18-45 years with confirmed spontaneous abortions and their association with household cattle from rural settings. The study on animal samples collected from rural settings will be conducted after receiving approval from the animal ethics committee. Vaginal swabs and faecal samples will be collected and analysed for L. monocytogenes using selective culture methods and Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Data will be statistically analysed using the chi-square test to identify correlations, and p-value <0.05 will be considered statistically significant.