An Epidemic of Waterborne Shigella Gastroenteritis in Kibbutzim of Western Galilee in Israel

Abstract

In an epidemic of Shigella sonnei gastroenteritis, probably waterborne, 1216 people were affected within three weeks, 302 of them members of communal settlements, the kibbutzim. A descriptive study of the epidemic in six affected kibbutzim in the area showed that the highest rates of diarrhoea occurred in a kibbutz that received its drinking water solely from the allegedly contaminated well. People at high risk within the kibbutzim were temporary visitors from Europe and the US (the volunteers), children aged 1 to 5 years, adult women, and children and their mothers in kibbutzim where the sleeping arrangements for the children was in 'children's houses'.