SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Health officials say nearly three dozen cases of a bacterial gastrointestinal infection have been reported in the Syracuse area.
The Onondaga County Health Department tells the Post-Standard of Syracuse (http://bit.ly/KKtg8s ) that the number of people sickened by an outbreak of shigellosis (shih-gel-LOH'-sis) is up to 34 Tuesday, including 21 confirmed cases and 13 probable cases.
The county's health commissioner says about half of those infected are children under age 10. Officials say the agency hasn't pinpointed the source of the outbreak, which was first reported last week.
The disease causes severe diarrhea, cramps and fever. It's highly contagious and spreads mostly through contaminated food or by people who do not thoroughly wash their hands.
The illness usually clears up within a week. Severe cases need to be treated with antibiotics.
