Misti Crane of the Columbus Dispatch – Columbus and Franklin County health officials are warning day-care providers to take precautions against spreading a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea and can be especially harmful to people with weak immune systems.

Shigella cases are on the increase in the county, especially in the city, and most have been linked to day-care providers where more than one child has been infected, said Columbus Public Health medical director Mysheika Roberts.

There have been 144 known cases this year, many of those in the past few weeks, and most in children younger than 4.