Stomach parasite outbreak reported at golf club

Roughly 900 people were at the July 3 festivities at the Evanston Golf Club, 4401 Dempster St., in Skokie. Since then, officials said, more than 100 people have fallen ill with serious flu-like symptoms. Some people had to be hospitalized.

Investigators said the illness was caused by an intestinal parasite called Cyclospora cayetanensis.

It was the golf club that raised the alarm. Investigators said it's clear the club did nothing wrong; it is cooperating fully with the state's investigation.

"We wanted to first make sure that if [people] were ill, they realized it might be related to this event," said Dr. Catherine Counard, director of health for the village of Skokie. "And secondly, ... this was not going to go away on its own. You need antibiotics."

Investigators are still trying to identify the source of the outbreak.