Overview
- The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published April 9, found XDR strains increased to 8.5% of submitted isolates in 2023 after analyzing 16,788 samples.
- Most recent cases involved adult men with a median age of 41, and travel histories most often showed no recent trips, signaling spread within the United States.
- Shigella causes shigellosis, a highly contagious diarrheal illness that spreads through fecal‑oral exposure, contaminated food or water, and sexual contact, with outbreaks reported among men who have sex with men.
- In cases with available data, about one in three patients were hospitalized and no deaths were reported.
- These strains resist common antibiotics including azithromycin, ceftriaxone, and ciprofloxacin, and with no FDA‑approved oral options the CDC urges susceptibility‑guided care, quick reporting, targeted prevention, and stronger surveillance to curb transmission and the spread of resistance genes.