An Outbreak of Shigella Gastroenteritis

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Abstract
A foodborne outbreak of gastroenteritis due to Shigella sonnei involved 77.8% of the school children who ate the suspected meal. The incubation period ranged from 15 to 70 hours with a mean of 35.2 hours. Rectal swabs were incubated for about 6 hours in GN broth (a broth selective for Gram-negative rods) before plating. This yielded 50.7% positive cultures from those that ate the suspected meal. Of those examined, 16.6% were found to be asymptomatic carriers. Of the household contacts, 9.5% developed gastroenteritis within 22 days after the outbreak. Almost all the children had negative rectal cultures 6 weeks later although most received no specific drug therapy.