Shigella
A bacterium called Shigella belongs to the same group of pathogens as E.coli 0157:H7 and Cryptosporidium.
A person has only to ingest a few organisms from the Shigella bacteria for their internal organs to become infected and cause gastroenteritis, more communally know as diarrhea. The bacteria penetrating the lining of the intestines will also cause swelling, and in some more serous causes sores will develop.
It is important to seek out a physician when symptoms first appear nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, and fever.
Shigella is a severe contagious communicable disease that infects thousands each year. Individuals that are at an increased risk include small children, the elderly, those that have had organ transplants, persons with low immune systems such as HIV patents.
In the U.S. alone their are 25,000 confirmed reported cases of Shigella per year, but the Center For Disease Control estimates that there are more then 450,000 cases across the country each year.
Shigella is most commonly spread through excrement of persons previously infected, person-to-person contact, food and food handlers, caregivers of the elderly, and children.
Prevention: The simple act of washing ones hands and wearing gloves can prevent infecting others.
Food can become contaminated in the fields and during harvest, and while being processed in factories. When food is prepared in unsanitary conditions and handled by infected workers individuals can become contaminated with the bacteria.
Water can become contaminated after flooding. Water supplies that are found to be contaminated are generally found in developing countries