Convalescent cultures for control of shigellosis outbreaks.

Background: A shigellosis outbreak in the St Louis, Missouri metropolitan area.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of a second convalescent stool culture following an initial negative convalescent stool culture among persons excluded from work or childcare for shigellosis.

Methods: An observational study of 219 shigellosis cases.

Outbreak of echovirus 18 meningitis in a rural Missouri community.

This is a case-control study of viral meningitis outbreak in Perry County, Missouri. All case-patients had viral meningitis per routine CSF analysis or PCR testing. Enterovirus VP1-specific RT-PCR and sequencing was performed on CSF.

Outbreak of rash in children associated with recreational mud exposure.

We conducted an investigation of a rash outbreak in children who attended the "Mud Mania Festival." The mean incubation period of illness was 26 hours, and mean duration was 4.3 days.