February 16, 2023
EDMONTON – Alberta Health Services (AHS) is pleased to share that the Shigella outbreak that has impacted Edmonton Zone residents is declared over as of today, February 16, 2023.
The first person became ill on August 17, 2022 with a confirmed diagnosis on August 29, 2022 and an outbreak was declared on September 8, 2022. In the last several months, following the sharing of health guidance and mobilization of hygiene resources, there has been a steep decline in the number of cases reported. In the last two weeks, no new cases were reported.
Throughout the outbreak, 206 people had confirmed Shigella diagnoses and 139 of those people required hospitalization. This outbreak primarily affected members of Edmonton’s inner-city population. No deaths were reported connected to this outbreak.
Shigella is a disease that’s commonly associated with diarrhea, as well as fever, nausea and stomach cramps. It can cause severe illness, resulting in hospitalization and it spreads when someone comes into contact with fecal matter from an infected person and also by eating food contaminated with the bacteria.
AHS’ response to this outbreak began immediately following the first confirmed case and that work involved connecting with shelters, inner-city agencies, and local family physicians about the growing cluster of cases. In early October 2022, AHS reached out to the City of Edmonton for support and in mid-October AHS struck a task force to coordinate resources and a response between inner-city community partners.
We would like to share our thanks and gratitude to the City of Edmonton, Alberta Health, Alberta Community and Social Services, Edmonton area shelters and other partner organizations for their work on this outbreak. Without the ongoing collaboration and sharing of resources and ideas from the experts on the task force, our response would not have been as fulsome and successful as it was.
Although the outbreak is over, it is expected that sporadic cases of Shigella will be confirmed in the weeks and months to come. Heightened surveillance for new cases will continue and AHS remains a resource to those in the community who have questions or concerns.
As always, we would like to remind the general public that proper hand hygiene helps prevent the spread of any illnesses, including Shigella.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Our mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans. Our current focus is on reducing emergency department wait-times, improving EMS response times, increasing access to surgeries, and improving patient flow.
