Wash your damn hands so you don’t serve poop. That’s usually the key message when a shigella outbreak happens, although it could also be fresh produce grown in human poop.

Public health officials said Wednesday the number of people with confirmed cases of shigella associated with a franchised Subway restaurant in Lombard, Ill., has climbed to 78, with 11 of those individuals requiring hospitalization.

Dave Hass, public information officer for the DuPage County Health Department, said the Lombard Subway remains closed after two weeks, as his agency and the Illinois Department of Public Health continue to investigate the cluster of shigella illnesses. Ten of the 11 people hospitalized as a result of their illness have been discharged, he said.

Les Winograd, a spokesman for Doctor’s Associates Inc. of Milford, Conn., franchisor of the 32,502-unit Subway chain, said the franchisee at the Lombard store voluntary closed the restaurant after learning of the outbreak of illnesses.

Public health officials said shigella is spread through fecal contamination and that most people who are infected with the toxin develop gastrointestinal illness, such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps, one to two days after being exposed.