Shigella Bacteria

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

An outbreak of Shigella bacteria is believed to be the reason behind the recent incident of suspected food poisoning in Kasaragod district, where around 58 people fell ill and a young girl died after consuming food — specifically “shawarma” — from a eatery in Kerala.

• Shigella is one of the leading bacterial causes of diarrhea worldwide and is an intestinal infection caused by a family of bacteria.
• Some of the common symptoms of shigella infection are diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, tiredness and blood in stool.

How it spreads?

• Shigella is generally transmitted through contaminated food or water, or through person-to-person contact.
• Shigellosis is primarily a disease of poor and crowded communities that do not have adequate sanitation or safe water.
• The bacteria, after entering the body through ingestion, attack the epithelial lining of the colon resulting in inflammation of the cells and subsequently the destruction of the cells in severe cases.
• Handwashing is said to reduce shigella transmission by 70%