
CDC Warning: Drug-Resistant Shigella Poses New Public Health Threat
The CDC warns about XDR shigella, a drug-resistant Shigella strain causing shigellosis in the US, with infections up 8.5% from 2011 to 2023 and about 450,000 cases annually; the strain is resistant to most common antibiotics, leaving few oral treatments and sometimes requiring hospitalization for IV antibiotics; antimicrobial-resistant infections cost roughly $93 million in direct medical costs. Transmission is fecal-oral, via contaminated food/water and, increasingly, sexual activity; prevention centers on handwashing, safe food and water, and abstaining from sex during/after illness. Most infections resolve in 5–7 days, but young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals remain higher risk.












