Ruminants are fed forage which is often contaminated with Listeria, and frequently shed Listeria monocytogenes with their faeces. The present study was designed to localize the sites of infection in the digestive tract concomitant with Listeria faecal excretion in a sheep model. Ten Listeria-free sheep were inoculated per os with a dose of 10(10) c.f.u. of a pathogenic L. monocytogenes strain. Listeria received by two of the ten animals were radiolabelled with (111)indium oxine. The dissemination of the Listeria was assessed by in vivo imaging, by culture of bacteria in the faeces, organs and digesta samples taken at slaughter on days 1, 2, 6, 10 and 14 post-inoculation, and by measuring gamma radioactivity of samples on day 6. It was shown that Listeria spread through the entire volume of the forestomachs within 4 h, and through the whole gastrointestinal tract (GIT) within 24 h. Faecal shedding of Listeria lasted 10 days. Rumen, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, caecum and colon walls and digesta, mesenteric lymph nodes, liver and spleen were temporarily infected. However, Listeria persisted for at least 14 days in rumen digesta and retropharyngeal lymph nodes, and at a relatively high level (1 x 10(4) c.f.u. g(-1)) in palatine tonsils. These findings suggest that L. monocytogenes can translocate from all parts of the GIT, with the rumen digesta, but not the gallbladder, serving as a reservoir. The results indicate that brief and low-level faecal excretion of L. monocytogenes is concomitant with a transitory asymptomatic infection in sheep.