Latest numbers from a Shigella outbreak in Santa Clara County show nine confirmed cases and 21 suspected cases found amongst the unhoused community, health officials said on Monday.
Health officials continue to advise residents to avoid drinking or bathing in a section of the Guadalupe River downstream from Highway 85, where several unhoused encampments are located.
They also state that, “Public Health outreach workers and community organizations are providing clean water and advising residents of the encampments to avoid using the river water for drinking, bathing, cooking, and toileting.”
Shigella is a bacterial disease that causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach pain. According to the CDC, it is responsible for an estimated 450,000 infections in the United States every year.
"Shigella is an extremely infectious disease," Santa Clara County Public Health Department Assistant Health Officer Dr. Monika Roy said in a news briefing last week. "It only takes a little bit of the organism to be able to cause disease, so it's easily spread."
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