Believe it or not, a bunch of us passed through Lubbock, Texas yesterday on the way to its neighbor to the north, the town of Plainview, Texas. An item in the local newspaper caught our attention.
It seems that the great Buddy Holly’s hometown is still working its way out of a September 2008 outbreak of Shigella. With almost one-third of the year gone, Lubbock has experienced 148 confirmed cases of shigella so far in 2009. That may indicate some improvement over 2008 when a total of 714 cases were reported.
The City of Lubbock’s Health Department says it continues to investigate and monitor shigella in the community. “So far this year we’ve seen 174 cases of enteric diseases in Lubbock,” Beckie Brawley, Lubbock Health Department public health coordinator said. “Enteric diseases can be caused by a number of factors like contaminated water, contaminated food or coming into contact with infected animals and usually causes diarrhea or vomiting.”
For more on how the battle against Shigella is going in Lubbock, check this out.