Dozens of Winnipeg students get food poisoning during U.S. trip

April 23, 2005
CP Wire

WINNIPEG (CP) -- Health officials in Canada and the U.S. are, according to this story, trying to figure out why dozens of Canadian students got sick while returning from a trip to Washington, D.C.

14-year-old Ethan Pollock, who arrived at Winnipeg International Airport on Friday still wearing hospital pajamas, was quoted as saying, "It was horrible .. the worst time of my life.""

The story explains that Pollock was part of a 138-person group -- 114 students and 24 adult chaperones -- who were visiting the Holocaust Memorial Museum and other cultural institutions in Washington. The group arrived in the American capital Sunday and the symptoms began to manifest just as they were preparing to return home on four separate flights Wednesday afternoon. About 40 people on all four flights were initially affected Wednesday. The most serious were on two flights that landed in Minneapolis, where 31 people were taken by ambulances to two hospitals. Eight people -- six students and two adults -- were hospitalized Wednesday night.

The story notes that there have been no other reports of widespread food poisoning in the Washington area. A spokesman for the downtown hotel where the group stayed said they unaware of any other incident of food poisoning among other guests.