Shigellosis in refugees, Austria, July to November 2015

• Published in: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles Vol. 20; no. 48; p. 30081
• Main Authors: Lederer, Ingeborg, Taus, Karin, Allerberger, Franz, Fenkart, Sabrina, Spina, Alexander, Springer, Burkhard, Schmid, Daniela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sweden Centre Europeen pour la Surveillance Epidemiologique du SIDA (European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS) 03.12.2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Austria - epidemiology; beta-Lactamases - metabolism; Child; Child, Preschool; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Dysentery, Bacillary - diagnosis; Dysentery, Bacillary - drug therapy; Dysentery, Bacillary - microbiology; Enzymes; Epidemiology; Feces - microbiology; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Middle Aged; Nonnative species; Refugees; Shigella - classification; Shigella - drug effects; Shigella - enzymology; Shigella - isolation & purification; Young Adult; Austria; epidemiology; Austria; shigellosis; refugees; antimicrobial resistance; food-borne infections; hand hygiene; bacterial infections; syndromic surveillance; Shigella
• ISSN: 1560-7917; 1025-496X; 1560-7917
• DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2015.20.48.30081

We report on a cluster of shigellosis including 21 cases in refugees and two in local residents who worked in refugee transit centres, detected in Austria in 2015, between calendar weeks 29 and 47. The species isolated from the cluster cases, including one mixed infection, were S. sonnei (n = 13), S. flexneri (n = 10) and S. boydii (n = 1). Eleven of 18 tested isolates were extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-positive, including five of six ciprofloxacin-resistant and three azithromycin-resistant isolates.