Since last August, the Broome County Health Department has reported an abnormally large increase in cases of shigellosis, an intestinal infection from the Shigella bacteria that can cause stomach complications.

In past years, Broome County has seen an average of six cases annually, but 22 cases have been confirmed in the county since August 2025 and the number is steadily increasing. Symptoms of shigellosis include cramps, diarrhea, fever, stomach pain and tenesmus, a painful urge to go to the bathroom without being able to.

Dr. Lazarus Gehring, medical director of the Broome County Health Department, spoke to Pipe Dream about the outbreak, its potential causes and the risk level for Broome County residents.

“Typically, someone with Shigella who we test, we like to make sure that they’re not shedding before they go back to working in certain jobs, like in the hospital or food handlers, cafeteria workers,” Gehring said.

The Broome County Health Department has currently genotyped nine cases of shigellosis, which has allowed them to identify which species of Shigella caused the infection and where it might have originated. Genotyping the bacteria involves sending samples to the Wadsworth Center in Albany, where results can take some time to be returned.

As of now, all cases of shigellosis have been caused by Shigella sonnei, the most common species of Shigella in the United States.

“All bacteria have their fingerprints, just like people do,” said Gehring. “And what we’re seeing, finally, as this has rolled on, is the same fingerprint showing again and again in Broome County.”

Gehring said the health department is waiting for the results of a 10th genotype from the Albany laboratory and plans to genotype all confirmed cases of shigellosis going forward. He said it is likely that all reported cases will be from Shigella sonnei, leading to the conclusion that this is a localized outbreak that originated from one person, rather than caused by multiple people infected at different places.

He also mentioned that unhoused or poorly housed individuals are at greater risk of contracting shigellosis, but less likely to seek treatment and have access to a physician. As a consequence, more people might have contracted shigellosis than those who tested positive for the disease because of the lack of testing in these populations.

“Our numbers are definitely more than the 23 or 24 that will be reported by the end of this week,” said Gehring. “They’re probably at least three or four times higher than that.”

Shigellois is more likely to spread in children under five, unhoused individuals and men who have sex with men. It can be spread through eating contaminated food or water, physical contact or sexual activity.

Despite the increase in cases, Gehring said that this outbreak will not reach pandemic levels. For the majority of patients, symptoms will start one to two days after infection and will take up to a week to subside.

“Typically, in an immune-competent person — in other words, someone without an immune problem such as AIDS or chemotherapy or chronic steroid use, for example — most times, they’re going to soldier right on through,” Gehring said.

For now, Gehring recommends people maintain good hygiene and keep in mind that shigellosis can easily be transmitted through fecal matter and sexual activity.

“The same basic sanitation methods will take care of Shigella — good hand washing techniques, keeping the surfaces clean,” Gehring said. “And that sort of thing really saves the day here.”