Travel News January 31, 2000. Shigella Dysentery in Sierra Leone. The local Ministry of Health reports a total of 3,094 cases of shigellosis with 132 deaths since the start of the outbreak, which appears to be spreading. The disease is typically spread through drinking or swimming in fecally contaminated water or eating fecally contaminated foor.
Flies can carry the bacteria from feces to food.
After an incubation period of 2-3 days, symptoms begin, including fever, cramping abdominal pain, vomiting, and headache. These symptoms typically precede the diarrhea, which is watery when it begins but may become bloody. The disease can be severe and deaths occur, but rarely. Antibiotics are indicated in more severe cases but antibiotic resistence occurs. Yellow Fever in Brazil.