news desk Laugh
in Follow Edmonton Shigella The outbreak that began last August, Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced Thursday that the outbreak has been declared over.
The first person contracted the disease on August 17, 2022 with a confirmed diagnosis on August 29, 2022 and the outbreak was declared on September 8, 2022. In the past several months, after health guidelines were shared and hygiene resources mobilized, there has been a sharp decline in the number of reported cases. In the past two weeks, no new cases were reported.
Throughout the outbreak, 206 people were confirmed diagnosed with Shigella and 139 required hospitalization. This outbreak primarily affected members of the inner city population of Edmonton. No deaths associated with this outbreak have been reported.
Shigella is an illness commonly associated with diarrhea, as well as fever, nausea, and stomach cramps. It can cause severe illness, resulting in hospitalization and is spread when someone touches the feces of an infected person and also by eating food contaminated with the bacteria.
AHS’ response to this outbreak began immediately after the first confirmed case, and that work included communicating with shelters, inner-city agencies, and local family physicians about the growing pool of cases. In early October 2022, AHS reached out to the City of Edmonton for support and in mid-October AHS put together a task force to coordinate resources and response among community partners within the city.
Although the outbreak is over, it is expected that isolated cases of Shigella will be confirmed in the coming weeks and months. Increased monitoring of new cases will continue and AHS will continue to be a resource for those in the community who have questions or concerns.
As always, we would like to remind the general public that proper hand hygiene helps prevent the spread of any diseases, including Shigella.
