A highly contagious disease is alarmingly on the rise in one US state.
Cases of dysentery, also called shigellosis, are hiking up in the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon, according to the Multnomah County Health Department.
The two strains of the disease that have been found in the state are resistant to several antibiotics.
Both strains cause severe diarrhea. Recently, local health officials have not seen the strain that can cause more severe sickness and even death, KOIN reported last week.
Dysentery causes diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and fever and can jump from an infected human to another who comes in contact with fecal matter.
There were 40 dysentery cases reported in January, according to the county health department. Last year, there were 158 cases, up from 96 in 2023, 43 in 2022, and 36 in 2021. There was a spike of cases – 87 – in 2020, but 33 in 2019, 58 in 2018 and only 19 in 2017. The cases have been on the uptick since 2012.
Oregon Health & Science University’s medical director for infection prevention and control, Dr John Townes, told Metro that ‘this is not an “eighteenth century disease”’.
‘Shigella is a common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the US, along with Salmonella, Campylobacter, and this is not a change,’ he said.
‘Shigella has been the third most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis for a long time. ‘
He added that the recent increase in Shigellosis in the state has been primarily among the homeless and people with substance use disorders.
Among those infected lately, more than half, or 56% of cases were in homeless individuals and 55% were in people who used methamphetamines or opiates, according to the health department.
‘When you don’t have housing, it is harder to prevent infectious disease and harder to access care to treat disease compared to if you are housed,’ stated the department.
‘The rise in Shigella cases over recent years is concerning and is a result of multiple pathways of transmission. Investments made in public health are critical for monitoring and slowing the spread of disease.’
Townes said the spread of dysentery can be stopped by providing more public toilets and handwashing stations.
‘Shigella is primarily transmitted from person to person in conditions where access to adequate sanitation and personal hygiene are inadequate,’ he said.
‘Improving access to housing, sanitation, personal hygiene, and preventive healthcare services will be important in controlling not only Shigella, but also other infectious diseases transmitted by similar mechanisms.’
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