Shigella Scares

WHAT IS SHIGELLA?

When I think about Shigella, I think about gross water, improperly handled food, and the lack of hygiene. According to the FDA, this is all somewhat true. Shigella is a bacterium that spreads from contaminated feces or pollute water in which an infected person has been. Food can also become contaminated when it is handled by an infected person who did not wash their hands after using the bathroom (tsk tsk) or if unclean water was used in the preparation of said food. Symptoms of shigellosis (dysentery, vomiting, cramping, fever – all the fun stuff) usually develop within a period of 8 hours-2 days after infection and typically subside by itself in a week or less. However, symptoms can become quite serious in some cases for which they are treated with antibiotics. And this was just the case with a few recent outbreaks within the last 6 months alone. (!!!)

FIRST SHIGELLA SCARE

According to a June 2019 article by the CDC, public health officials have been investigating a multistate outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses that were linked to raw oysters from Estero El Cardon estuary in Baja California Sur, Mexico. As of June 21, 2019, 16 people reported being ill from five different states. Using interviews, the 15 people who consented answered questions about food exposures in the week before they came ill. All 15 reported eating raw oysters. These people were found to be infected with multiple pathogens including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shigella flexneri, STEC non-O157, Vibrio albensis, Campylobacter lari, and norovirus genogroup 1. Among the 15 people who provided information, 2 people (or 13%) were hospitalized for antibiotic therapy (which, by the way, don’t use Ampicillin – Shigella has already developed resistance). As of June 21, 2019, the outbreak seemed to have cleared and there were thankfully no deaths.

ONE MORE SCARE FOR GOOD MEASURE

According to a May 2019 article, there was another outbreak of shigellosis at a wedding party in Oregon, this time sickening 112 people. The outbreak was caused by Shigella flexneri type 3a, which accounts for less than 3% of S. flexneri accounts. According to Steven Rekant, an officer with the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, “This was one of the largest foodborne outbreaks of shigellosis in U.S. history.” And what was the cause? Contaminated asparagus … yum. This investigation defined shigellosis cases as having diarrhea that lasted 5 days, and further confirmed this when they isolated S. flexneri from patients’ stools. Of the 95 patients that provided information, 97% reported they developed illness within 12-72 hours after the wedding. 57 patients presented to a healthcare facility and 10 were unfortunately hospitalized. Thankfully, there were no deaths reported! At the end of the day, researchers pointed to poor hygiene by the food-handler as the “likely cause of contamination.” So, please people – wash! your! hands!