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The discovery of Shigella as the etiologic agent of dysentery—a clinical syndrome of fever, intestinal cramps, and frequent passage of small, bloody, mucopurulent stools—is attributed to the Japanese microbiologist Kiyoshi Shiga, who isolated the Shiga bacillus (now known as Shigella dysenteriae type 1) from patients’ stools in 1897 during a large and devastating dysentery epidemic. Shigella cannot be distinguished from Escherichia coli by DNA hybridization and remains a separate species only on historical and clinical grounds.
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Shigella is a non-spore-forming, gram-negative bacterium that, unlike E. coli, is nonmotile and does not produce gas from sugars, decarboxylate lysine, or hydrolyze arginine. Some serovars produce indole, and occasional strains utilize sodium acetate. Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella boydii, and Shigella sonnei (serogroups A, B, C, and D, respectively) can be differentiated on the basis of biochemical and serologic characteristics.
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Genome sequencing of E. coli K12, S. flexneri 2a, S. sonnei, S. dysenteriae type 1, and S. boydii has revealed that these species have ~93% of genes in common. The three major genomic “signatures” of Shigella are (1) a 215-kb virulence plasmid that carries most of the genes required for pathogenicity (particularly invasive capacity); (2) the lack or alteration of genetic sequences encoding products (e.g., lysine decarboxylase) that, if expressed, would attenuate pathogenicity; and (3) in S. dysenteriae type 1, the presence of genes encoding Shiga toxin, a potent cytotoxin.
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The human intestinal tract represents the major reservoir of Shigella, which is also found (albeit rarely) in the higher primates. Because excretion of shigellae is greatest in the acute phase of disease, the bacteria are transmitted most efficiently by the fecal–oral route via hand carriage; however, some outbreaks reflect foodborne or waterborne transmission. In impoverished areas, Shigella can be transmitted by flies. The high-level infectivity of Shigella is reflected by the very small inoculum required for experimental infection of volunteers (100 colony-forming units [CFU]), by the very high attack rates during outbreaks in day-care centers (33–73%), and by the high rates of secondary cases among family members of sick children (26–33%). Shigellosis can also be transmitted sexually.
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Throughout history, Shigella epidemics have often occurred in settings of human crowding under conditions of poor hygiene—e.g., among soldiers in campaigning armies, inhabitants of besieged cities, groups on pilgrimages, and refugees in camps. Epidemics follow a cyclical pattern in areas such as the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa. These devastating epidemics, which are most often caused by S. dysenteriae type 1, are characterized by high attack and mortality rates. In Bangladesh, for instance, an epidemic caused by S. dysenteriae type 1 was associated with a 42% increase in mortality rate among children 1–4 years of age. Apart from these epidemics, shigellosis is mostly an endemic disease, with 99% of cases occurring in the developing world and ...