According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, an officer reported to the health care unit at the correctional center with medical symptoms after doing a count in a housing unit.
Another officer in the same housing unit started to experience medical symptoms and was taken to the health care unit by two other officers. Those two officers also started to feel ill, along with two staff members of the health care unit.
The Department of Corrections said five of the six affected staff were taken to an outside hospital for evaluation. All were released that day.
No inmates were affected, according to reports.
A hazmat team was called in but did not find any harmful substances during their search. Testing on clothing and other items came back negative, but the incident is still under investigation.
Just last week, six other staff members from the Shawnee Correctional Center were treated after falling ill while sorting mail.
A rising number of similar reports have been happening for weeks at prisons across Illinois. On Monday, a group of southern Illinois legislators sent a letter to the IDOC requesting that non-legal mail delivery be suspended until safety protocols are put into place.
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