Definition of "shigellosis" []

• Dysentery caused by any of various species of shigellae, occurring most frequently in areas where poor sanitation and malnutrition are prevalent and commonly affecting children and infants. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Health investigators say there's been a huge jump in the number of kids coming down with what is called shigellosis, a bacterial infection."
• "The Allegheny County Health Department has documented 60 cases of shigella infections that can cause the illness known as shigellosis that can include diarrhea, stomach cramping and fever."
• "Diarrheal diseases -- cholera, rotavirus, shigellosis, and others -- are the second leading killer of children under the age of five in the developing world (pneumonia is #1)."