Mass-Vomiting Incident at Las Vegas Elementary School Likened to ‘Armageddon’
Parents have yet to receive answers on what caused the outbreak.
After a gastrointestinal illness outbreak infected 130 students at an elementary school in Las Vegas on Friday, parents still haven't received answers as to what may have caused the mass-vomiting incident.
According to 8 News Now, all 130 students were lined up outside the Wayne N. Tanaka Elementary School health office on Jan. 27 as they experienced a wave of "projectile vomiting."
Danielle Farrow, the mother of one of the students, told the outlet, “A teacher said it was 'like Armageddon.' Our daughter said there were trash cans lined up and kids just throwing up everywhere."
Farrow's husband, Jon, said he spoke to his daughter's teacher, who referred to the incident as "the apocalypse."
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Another mother, who called herself “Joyce” to protect her identity, said her 9-year-old daughter came home from school feeling fine but was hit with the sickness later in the evening.
“It wasn’t until overnight when she was sleeping that she started having a stomach ache, and then she threw up about five to six times overnight,” Joyce said, noting that she kept her daughter home from school on Friday when the reported mass-vomiting outbreak occurred.
These parents, along with several others, have been left wondering what caused the near-simultaneous GI symptoms and are frustrated by the district's lack of response, speculating the incident could be related to contaminated cafeteria food.
Joyce reported that her daughter ate the cafeteria-provided food, while other families whose children did not eat the food reported no symptoms.
“I don’t know if they have all the information present as to what happened, but I wish that we did have more constant updates as to what’s going on,” she said. “At the end of the day, we don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know how to help them. I mean, if kids are a priority, then we need to know what’s going on so we can help our children.”
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A spokesperson for the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) told the outlet that “during a foodborne illness outbreak, people are interviewed about what they ate before they got sick when possible food contamination is confirmed using epidemiological and laboratory information," adding, “Gastrointestinal illnesses can have many causes.”
On Monday, parents received an email from the school informing them that SNHD is investigating the situation. “The Southern Nevada Health District is investigating the cause of the gastrointestinal illnesses reported by several of the students at Tanaka," the email read, adding, “sick people should not prepare food or care for others.”
As of writing, officials have yet to offer any further updates regarding the incident, and the district's lack of answers has caused at least one Las Vegas native to take to TikTok with a heated response, "If I ever needed a reason to continue homeschooling, this is it."
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