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Shigella
Genus of bacteria / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the genus. For the disease, see shigellosis. For the toxin that is produced by certain strains of Shigella and E. coli bacteria, see Shiga toxin.
Shigella is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non–spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and is genetically closely related to Escherichia. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who discovered it in 1897.[1]
Quick Facts Shigella, Scientific classification ...
Shigella | |
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Photomicrograph of Shigella sp. in a stool specimen | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
Order: | Enterobacterales |
Family: | Enterobacteriaceae |
Genus: | Shigella Castellani & Chalmers 1919 |
Species | |
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Shigella causes disease in primates, but not in other mammals; it is the causative agent of human shigellosis.[2] It is only naturally found in humans and gorillas.[3][4] During infection, it typically causes dysentery.[5]
Shigella is a leading cause of bacterial diarrhea worldwide, with 80–165 million annual cases (estimated)[6] and 74,000 to 600,000 deaths.[6][7] It is one of the top four pathogens that cause moderate-to-severe diarrhea in African and South Asian children.[8]