From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe taken ill/sickbe taken ill/sickformalILL to suddenly become ill → take
Examples from the Corpus
be taken ill/sick• His sister ate one, and was taken ill.• Several of the team were taken ill.• We were just about to go abroad when our usual nanny was taken ill and was advised not to travel.• Then Mum had cancer and Dad was taken ill at work.• Taylor, 47, was taken ill last week while working on his third album in a Florida recording studio.• At two years and a half, he was taken ill with pneumonia.• Whilst in Fort William she was taken ill with stomach pains.• During the siege of Bristol he was taken ill with the plague and again feared for his life. 