What caused the Beloit rashes? Still no clue.

BELOIT —  ”I couldn’t stop itching,” said Brittany Fugate, recounting how the outbreak of a rash at Beloit Elementary School one week ago today affected her personally.

Brittany, a fifth grader, was one of 35 children and two adults taken to local hospitals for treatment of what officials described as a red, itchy rash.

West Branch school officials closed all of the schools Friday and gave then a thorough cleaning before reopening Monday.

Dr. Scott Weingart, superintendent, said 11 of the 35 children who got the rash Thursday came down with it again in school on Monday, prompting the closing of the elementary school and the attached West Branch Middle School again on Tuesday.

The cause of the rash remained unknown Wednesday afternoon and the schools remained closed as officials from the state Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency were conducting tests in the elementary school.   The schools remained closed again today, although the middle school pupils, grades 6-8, began attending class in the nearby West Branch High School on Wednesday and will remain there the rest of this week, preparing for their annual assessment tests, Weingart said.

The elementary pupils remained out of class today, and Weingart said any decision on resuming their classes is on a ”day-to-day” basis.   The district has been unable to find suitable space to accommodate them, he said.