The Winnebago County Health Department released its annual report for 2015, which includes the number of reportable diseases in the county.
There were more than 1,700 cases of Chlamydia in Winnebago County last year, compared to 339 the year before.
Gonorrhea also rose by several hundred cases, compared to 2014.
Cases of Shigella, a bacterial disease that mainly affects children, jumped in the latest report.
Spokesman Todd Kisner characterized the outbreak earlier this year.
“Typically, when we see an outbreak of shigella, it’s usually confined to a daycare or a school," Kisner said. "But what we’re seeing with our community outbreak is, it’s going across the community."
Kisner encouraged strict hygiene as the best defense against the bacteria.
“The one way we can absolutely get rid of this outbreak and this infection is by washing hands often and correctly with our children," Kisner said.
The report shows there were 18 newly diagnosed cases of HIV, and eight for Legionnaire’s disease.
There were seven cases of Lyme disease, and just one of Malaria.
