Public toilets could help stop the spread of dysentery (yes, dysentery) in Portland

People of a certain age have long associated Oregon with dysentery, an old fashioned name for terrible diarrhea. That’s because of the 1980s video game, Oregon Trail, in which millions of unsuspecting avatars died of dysentery and were buried under pixelated gravestones.

The bacterial disease, which can also cause fevers, vomiting and cramps, is rarely deadly anymore, thanks to modern medicine. But it is highly contagious and can make people sick for weeks.

It’s also, for the most part, no longer a big issue in places with plumbing. Americans coming back from trips to countries with less sophisticated hygiene systems are among the primary groups at risk of ingesting one of the four strains of shigella bacteria that cause the debilitating symptoms.

But cases in Multnomah County among people who have not left the country nearly doubled last year, to 158 in 2024, according to the county health department. And the number appears to be rising: There were 40 confirmed cases just in January…

Read the full story on The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Photo by Beth Nakamura.