The mystery illness plaguing Manhattan High School is now being reported throughout other schools in USD 383.
Superintendent Marvin Wade said in a letter to parents Friday that elementary and middle school students in the district are reporting the same vomiting, diarrhea and nausea symptoms that has plagued the high school since such sickness was noticed with six students on Aug. 22.
Now that number has grown to 150 students, including some faculty. While norovirus is the suspected culprit by school officials, that has yet to be confirmed by any medical authority.
Sunday, Michelle Jones, USD 383 Director of Communications and School Safety, told KMAN she couldn’t specify which elementary schools have reported students with these symptoms.
“It’s a variety of schools,” she said.
Jones said any teacher, staff member or parent concerned about their elementary school should call their respective school office.
The district is closed Monday in observance of Labor Day.
Kansas Department of Agriculture inspectors visited MHS last week and found no evidence that suggested the illness originated in the building. School officials were given instruction on a cleaning plan with a bleach solution.
The Riley County Health Department has reported it has received stool samples from some infected students and expects results from tests on those samples within the next week.
Thursday morning, KMAN’s Cathy Dawes spoke with Jones on the illness:
Dawes also spoke with Heather Landsowne, Director of Communications for the Kansas Department of Agriculture Thursday morning:
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