Nonhuman primate model for Listeria monocytogenes-induced stillbirths.

Listeria monocytogenes, isolated from outbreaks in either human or nonhuman primate populations, was administered orally at doses ranging from 10(6) to 10(10) CFU. Four of 10 treated animals delivered stillborn infants. L. monocytogenes was isolated from fetal tissue, and the pathology was consistent with L. monocytogenes infection as the cause of pregnancy loss. For all pregnancies resulting in stillbirths, L. monocytogenes was isolated from maternal feces, indicating that L. monocytogenes had survived and had probably colonized the gastrointestinal tract. Antibodies and antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation against Listeria increased in animals that had stillbirths.