A 31-year-old school-teacher returns from foreign travel and experiences a sudden (1-2 days) onset of abdominal pain, fever, and watery diarrhea, caused by a heat-labile exotoxin that affects both the gut and the CNS. This infection is caused by an etiologic agent commonly acquired through which of the following routes?

The respiratory tract is a common portal of entry to such airborne organisms as M. tuberculosis. This is why respiratory precautions must be taken when patients are harboring viable M. tuberculosis. The GI tract is usually infected from ingestion of contaminated food or water (Shigella, Salmonella, and Campylobacter) or by an alteration of the normal microbial flora such as with C. difficile disease. The genital tract may become infected either by sexual contact or by alteration of the genital environment, as often occurs with yeast infections. Several bacteria such as N. gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia, and T. pallidum are transmitted by direct sexual contact with infected partners.