Nearly 100 Students Sickened

Stomach Ailment Prompts Georgetown to Close Main Dining Hall

Almost 100 Georgetown University students were sickened and treated for stomach illness, sparking a health investigation and the closing of the school's main dining hall yesterday.

The students were treated at Georgetown University Hospital and the campus health center. Students began appearing at Georgetown University Hospital late Tuesday, complaining of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Early yesterday, emergency room doctors alerted campus officials, who shut down Leo J. O'Donovan Dining Hall and served meals elsewhere.

Many of the students had eaten at the dining hall, known as Leo's, but the cause of their illness remained a mystery that D.C. health department officials are investigating. Eric Glasser, assistant chief of emergency medicine at the hospital, said it is possible the outbreak could have been caused by food poisoning or a virus.

All of the students were treated and released. Some were so sick that their heart rates were elevated by dehydration, Glasser said, and they were given IV fluids. Students were still being treated yesterday afternoon, but their symptoms were less severe, Glasser said, so hospital officials were hopeful that the worst of the outbreak had passed.

Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs, said the dining hall would remain closed through at least breakfast this morning while officials investigates. The early meal would also be served at the student center, which is equipped with kitchens.

University officials notified students about the illness and the closing of the dining hall with an early-morning e-mail, causing a stir among students focused on mid-term exams.

"I'm grossed out by the whole thing, definitely," said freshman Charlie Nocker, who was eating chicken nuggets, rice and cookies at the student center. The night before, he had talked to a friend who had rushed her roommate to the hospital instead of studying for two exams. "She's really slammed," Nocker said.

Many students said they weren't particularly worried about becoming ill. Some even celebrated briefly yesterday afternoon -- study group members in the student center hugged when they got an e-mail announcing that their exam would be delayed.

Food services at Georgetown are contracted out to Aramark, Olson said. Company executives did not return a call seeking comment.

Public health officials are questioning students about where and what they ate, collecting food samples and checking the preparation of meals and the sources of food, said Peggy Keller, chief of the bureau of community hygiene for the health department. They were hoping to finish within 48 hours, she said.

John Davies-Cole of the D.C. health department said he did not know when the dining hall was last inspected. Olson said it is inspected at least a couple of times a year. "We have gotten very high marks for cleanliness and safety," Olson said.

Although the investigation was ongoing, some students said that some of the people who became sick had eaten the Hoya Wrap. Named after the school's nickname, it's a pre-made sandwich with chicken and sauce wrapped in a tortilla.

Taylor Dana, a pre-med freshman from Toledo, said she had grabbed one for a quick lunch Tuesday. By her afternoon varsity crew practice, her stomach was hurting so badly that she thought she was going to be sick while she was out on the water, she said. At a seminar afterward, she excused herself and vomited in a bathroom, then dragged herself back to her dorm in the rain, she said, throwing up again along the way. Her roommate brought her books and key back after class, and found her on the floor in the hall. She and the resident adviser on the hall persuaded Dana to get help and called an ambulance to take her to the emergency room.

Dana was one of the first students there, she said, and doctors initially wanted to check for appendicitis or other possible causes of the acute pain. But within minutes, Dana said, the halls were full of other students arriving and getting put into beds.

"I could hear they were all throwing up," she said yesterday afternoon, looking exhausted in sweat pants and flip-flops. "It was really bad."

After getting fluids by IV and some stomach pain relievers, she was able to get some sleep, and she left the hospital early yesterday. On her way out, she saw a crew teammate, just checking into the hospital with the same symptoms.