ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to investigate a reported disease outbreak among higher education student recruits in Bilate Military Centre; Sidamo Administrative Region. Out of the total patients of 5;245 who visited at the out-patient department 1;616 (30.1 per cent) were patients with diarrhoea. There were 99 patients admitted to the hospital out of which 27 (27.2 per cent) were diarrhoeal patients. There were no deaths reported. A total of 965 (75.6 per cent) were treated with antimicrobial; mainly Tetracyclines; Chloramphenicol; Metronidazole and Chloroquine. Only 114 (8.9 per cent) were treated with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) while 86 (7.11 per cent) with Anti-diarrhoeal (Charcoal) and ORS. There was no proper excreta disposal and the water source was found to be bacteriologically non-potable. Among the 34 stool specimens collected for culture and sensitivity tests; the genus Shigella was isolated in 6 patients; where 4 were Shigella flexneri (Group B) and 2 were Shigella dysenteriae (Group A) one type 1 (Shiga's Bacillus) and the other type 2 (Schmitz's Bacillus). Shigella dysenteriae serogroups 1 and 2 showed resistance to eight and seven drugs including Trimethoprim Sulpha-Methoxazole (TSM) respectively. This study highlights the importance of safe water and improvement of general hygiene and environmental sanitation for prevention and control of epidemics and indicates the importance of continuous surveillance of drug resistant Shigella for the control of outbreaks of Shigellosis