A community waterborne outbreak of gastro-enteritis attributed to Shigella sonnei

An outbreak of gastro-enteritis occurred in a community of 2213 persons located near the city of Ioannina, in North-western Greece. Two hundreds and eighty-eight inhabitants of the village of Eleoussa, suffered from gastro-enteritis between 11 and 22 October. The peak of the epidemic occurred during the first 3 days (11-13 October). The highest risk of developing gastro-enteritis was observed in the age group 0-14 years (41.4%) and decreased significantly with age (P < 0.01). Patients over 65 years were more frequently hospitalized than those in other age groups (P < 0.05). Shigella sonnei was isolated from both, water samples and faeces of patients. Control measures were implemented on the second day of the outbreak. Environmental conditions suggest that contamination of the water system occurred by groundwater.