Officials seek cause of illness that struck 130 at Flamingo

Stephen Curran

Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 11:13 a.m.

The Clark County Health District this morning was trying to determine what caused about 130 people to become sick last week at the Flamingo Las Vegas on the Strip.

However, although the guests and employees were reportedly suffering flu-like symptoms, a flu outbreak is unlikely, according to the health district.

The illness, estimated to have struck an even number of hotel guests and employees, was first noted early last week, when guests and employees reported experiencing nausea, vomiting diarrhea and headaches, Dave Tonelli, a spokesman for the health district, said.

The symptoms can be characteristic of the flu but in this case were missing the respiratory elements seen in flu cases, Daniel Maxson, the health district's environmental health supervisor, said.

Health district investigators believe the illness to be viral, based on bacterial samples taken in the hotel. Final results from state laboratories are expected later today, Maxson said.

"It's not safe to say that (the flu has been ruled out)," he said. "But the symptoms are not compatible with the flu."

Robert Stewart, a spokesman for Caesars Entertainment, the Flamingo's parent company, said the company notified the health district on Wednesday after reports of the symptoms.

Similar symptoms are common in a variety of illnesses. The agency on Friday was also interviewing people who stayed at the hotel, Tonelli said.

"It hasn't been narrowed down to a food service outlet or anything," he said. "We won't know until we do the legwork and interview people."

About 1,700 Las Vegas visitors became sick in December 2003 after contracting the highly contagious Norwalk virus, which displays similar symptoms. The visitors -- mostly Hawaii residents traveling in a charter group operated by the Boyd Gaming Corp. -- stayed at or visited the California, Fremont and Main Street Station hotels in downtown Las Vegas.

The most recent illness appears to be limited to the Flamingo, Tonelli said.

Since the most recent illness, the Flamingo has started extensively cleaning each room with a strong disinfectant, Stewart said Friday.

The hotel's food service outlets are all still open, he said.