I looked in the dictionary. It sounds rather unpleasant. Caused by bacteria, you get a high fever, severe intestinal irritation, purple spots, septicemia (don't know what that is, but the word "septic" is involved so use your imagination). It's spread through, umm, well, due to the bacteria being evacuated and then contaminating water and food.
It's a big deal, but antibacterial drugs have "much improved the outlook". It used to be a lot worse and was often fatal but modern medicine... the OED sounds optimistic.
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