What is the reservoir for Shigella?

• A. Humans.
• B. Animals.
• C. Soil.
• D. Water.

Answer: (A)

Shigella is maintained and shed primarily by humans, making people the reservoir. Infected individuals—often with or without symptoms—carry the bacteria in the intestinal tract and release it in feces. Because Shigella requires only a tiny number of organisms to cause infection, fecal-oral spread through close person-to-person contact, contaminated hands, food, or water keeps transmission going in households and communities. Environmental contamination can enable outbreaks, but it does not serve as the main reservoir for the organism. Animals are not the usual reservoir for Shigella, and soil is not the source that maintains the infection in the population. Hence, humans are the reservoir.