Epidemiological update: Spread of multidrug-resistant and extensively-drug resistant Shigella in Europe
Resistance and transmission are different questions
This update discusses both antimicrobial resistance and the ways Shigella clusters were being investigated in Europe. A resistance classification describes treatment options; it does not identify a person’s behaviour or make every infection part of the same cluster.
The report identifies particular networks while also describing food- and water-borne transmission. Keep those distinctions when sharing the story, avoid attaching stigma to a community, and leave individual diagnosis and treatment decisions to a clinician.
From the source
Since 2023, 14 countries have reported more than 2 300 infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri to ECDC. Seven genetically distinct MDR/XDR clusters, some with prolonged circulation and others more recent, have been reported.
In addition to food- and water-borne transmission routes, Shigella infections reported to ECDC increasingly include sexual transmission among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. This evolving transmission pattern is occurring alongside the emergence and sustained circulation of MDR/XDR Shigella strains.
The shifts in transmission dynamics and resistance patterns affect patient care and public health response, and limit treatment options.
This update focuses on Shigella clusters involving gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and outlines considerations and recommendations to raise awareness, reduce transmission, and mitigate the further development and spread of antimicrobial resistance. It builds on ECDC’s Rapid Risk Assessment in 2022, and the Epidemiological Update in 2023.
Sources & Verification
Source: ECDC, CC BY 4.0. Source text reproduced with attribution; topic labels and page layout added by Worldwide Outbreak. No endorsement implied.
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Feed retrieved 24 Oct 2026, 14:09 UTC.
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