Summary
Background. Shigella, a member of Enterobacterales family, is a gramnegative, nonmotile rod. It is a common cause of acute diarrheal disease called shigellosis. Shigella is highly infectious (a minimum inoculum of only 10–100 organisms) and is transmitted via the fecal- oral route. Phenotypically, Shigella spp. and E. coli share many com mon characteristics, yet they have separate entities in epidemiology and clinical disease, which poses a diagnostic challenge.
