State seeks to find cause of sickness in Dubuque

Health officials are trying to determine what sickened some two-dozen people in Dubuque. While at least 24 people have the bacterial infection called shigella, six children had to be put in the hospital due to severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and fever. State health department spokesman Kevin Teale says the illness can become severe. Teale says there have been two waves of the illness in Dubuque — one group of people got sick back in May, the others got sick in the past few days. Teale says many of the people who got sick visited Dubuque’s Eagle Point Park which has a wading pool, water fountains, restrooms and other places which could have been the origin of the problem. Teale says 92 cases of shigella have been reported statewide this year. At this point last year, there had been 132 cases reported.