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AMADA AMERICA INCORPORATED. THE MAN’S NAME HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED. KENNY: PETREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN WINSTON-SALEM WILL BE OPEN ON THURSDAY, BUT THERE ARE TESTS UNDERWAY TO FIND OUT WHAT CAUSED A COUPLE DOZEN STUDENTS TO GET SICK TODAY WITHIN A SHORT WINDOW. IT WAS ENOUGH TO CAUSE AN EMERGENCY EVACUATION THIS AFTERNOON. THEY EVEN BROUGHT IN HAZMAT TEAMS. >> DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. PANICKED, SCARED. REPORTER: FOR SOME PARENTS, THIS WAS THE SCENE THEY DROVE UP TO WHEN PICKING UP THEIR CHILDREN AT PETREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. >> SHE SAID THEY WERE THROWING UP REAL BAD AFTER EATING LUNCH. A LOT OF KIDS WERE JUST THROWING UP. REPORTER: AROUND 12:45, 24 FIFTH GRADERS AND ONE ADULT CAME DOWN WITH STOMACH ILLNESS SYMPTOMS AFTER FINISHING LUNCH. >> AS SOON AS THESE STUDENTS STARTED PRESENTING ILLNESSES, OUR TEAM WENT INTO ACTION HERE AND STARTED MAKING SURE THEY COULD MOBILIZE THEM, GET NURSES IN PLACE AND HAVE THEM CHECKED OUT TO SEE IF THEY COULD FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON. REPORTER: BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IMPACTED AND TIMING OF THE EVENT, AN EMERGENCY EVACUATION WAS CALLED. STUDENTS AND STAFF WERE SENT TO ATKINS HIGH SCHOOL. >> WE THINK THIS IS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. NO INDICATIONS THAT IT’S GOING TO SPREAD OR THAT IT’S A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE. AGAIN, WE ARE STILL LOOKING INTO WHAT’S CAUSED THIS. REPORTER: HAZMAT CREWS SWEPT THE SCHOOL AND COLLECTED SAMPLES FOR TESTING. RIGHT NOW THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS A FOOD-BORN ILLNESS. THE WHOLE SITUATION, HAD MANY PARENTS SCARED AND FULL OF QUESTIONS. >> I’M LIKE, WHAT IS THE PRECAUTIONS, WHAT DO I NEED TO BE LOOKING FOR? WHAT HAPPENED? I DON’T KNOW, AND THE KIDS JUST HAD TO LEAVE SCHOOL WITH NO BOOKBAG, NO NOTHING. SO, THEY HAD NOTHING BUT THEIR CLOTHES ON THEIR BACK AND THEY JUST HAD TO GO. REPORTER: THE SCHOOL WAS CLEARED FOR RENTRY HOURS AFTER THE INCIDENT. ALL SICK CHILDREN WERE RELEASED TO THEIR PARENTS, NONE WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL.

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The consumption of an undiluted, fruit-flavored concentrate and hot-and-spicy chips have been linked to the sudden, widespread stomach illness that prompted an evacuation at a Winston-Salem elementary school, according to a report prepared by the Forsyth County Department of Public Health..Hazmat, emergency medical services, Forsyth Fire and Rescue and Forsyth County Health Department officials went to Petree Elementary School, located at 3815 Old Greensboro Road, on Wednesday afternoon to try to figure out what caused widespread gastrointestinal distress, nausea and vomiting.School spokesman Brent Campbell said students started getting sick just before 1 p.m. as several fifth-graders were coming back from lunch.“As soon as these students started presenting illnesses our team went into action here at Petree and started making sure they could mobilize them, get nurses in place and have them checked out to see if they could figure out exactly what was going on,” Campbell said.School officials set up a mobile clinic to address student health concerns.Because of the number of students impacted and the timing of the event, an emergency evacuation was called. Students and staff were moved to Atkins High School to be picked up by their parents and guardians. Hazmat crews swept through the entire school and collected samples for testing including liquid and food samples. In a statement released Friday afternoon, health department officials determined that students ingested a concentrated fruit-flavored liquid, commonly sold in stores in small squeeze bottles and usually added to at least 8 to 16 ounces of water and large amounts of “hot” and “spicy” flavored chip products throughout both lunch and recess periods.Health officials determined the concentrated fruit-flavored liquid was brought from home. The hot-and-spicy chip products were both purchased at the school and brought from student’s individual homes. Students ingesting the concentrated, undiluted liquid did so in a variety of ways, including from the palm of their hand, directly from their lunch trays using straws, food items, and/or their fingers, or from the bottle directly.Health officials said some people experienced sympathetic vomiting and nausea caused by the sight, smell and sound of other students vomitingThe whole situation had many parents on edge and full of questions. “I feel very frantic, scared, don’t know what’s going on,” parent Stacie Privott said. “I had teachers calling my phone telling me that they’re evacuating the school. And I’m like, 'What’s the precautions, what do I need to be looking for? What happened? And they’re like I don’t know, and the kids just had to leave school with no book bag, no nothing. So, they had nothing but their clothes on their back and they just had to go.”“Didn’t know what was going on, nervous, panicked, scared,” a parent, Michelle, said. “Unsure, assessing all presence of the law enforcement and the fire department.” Petree Elementary was cleared for reentry hours after the incident. All sick children were released to their parents and none were transported to the hospital.