Meat and vegetable salads. They usually appear 12 to 36 hours after ingesting the organism. They are characterized by diarrhea, abdominal cramps and frequent nausea and vomiting. Headache, mild fever, chills, dehydration and prostration sometimes occur. The illness usually lasts from two to six days.
Deaths are uncommon except in the very young, very old or individuals already weakened by illness.
This disease is caused by ingesting small amounts of several strains of the Shigella bacteria. Individuals primarily responsible for transmission are those who fail to clean hands thoroughly and scrub under the fingernails after defecation, and then infect others directly by physical contact or indirectly by contaminating food. They usually appear 12 to 96 hours after ingesting the bacteria. They are characterized by diarrhea accompanied by fever, nausea, vomiting and cramps. Convulsions may occur in young children.