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New Case Of Rare Stomach Illness In Ill.

Illinois is reporting one new case of a rare stomach illness, bringing the total number in the state to five. The Illinois Department of Public Health says officials are still investigating the source of the illness caused by a parasite, but have been unable to link it to any food source.

An outbreak of the same infection in Iowa and Nebraska has been tied to salad mix supplied by a Mexican farm. In Illinois, none of the people infected have required hospitalization. The cases of cyclosporiasis were reported in Montgomery, Jo Daviess, Lake, Sangamon and McHenry counties. Health officials believe the Sangamon County patient acquired the infection in Iowa.

Connie Austin is an infectious disease specialist with the IDPH. She says in the US over 400 cases of the illness have been reported - across 16 states.

AUSTIN: "Our numbers are pretty low, which we're pretty happy about. Obviously Iowa and Nebraska were hit the hardest early on ... so I think we're not hit as hard as other states and hopefully it will remain that way."

The most recently reported case in Illinois is in McHenry County. That person got sick the third week of July.

-Rachel Otwell/Associated Press

Rachel Otwell of the Illinois Times is a former NPR Illinois reporter.
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