SYRACUSE -- Health officials say nearly three dozen cases of a bacterial gastrointestinal infection have been reported in the Syracuse area.
The Onondaga County Health Department says the number of people sickened by an outbreak of shigellosis is up to 34 Tuesday, including 21 confirmed cases and 13 probable cases.
Shigellosis is a bacterial, infectious disease that is caused by drinking or eating food contaminated with fecal matter.
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, but they are continuing to conduct interviews to try to determine the source.
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.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
