HOUSTON (AP) _ City health officials were running tests tonight to determine what illness kept 328 elementary students home over two days.
The Houston Chronicle reports officials suspect a virus has caused the fevers, headaches and stomachaches that prompted Travis Elementary School students to miss class Wednesday and Thursday.
Health officials said they haven’t ruled out environmental factors or even swine flu. They found no evidence of a food-borne illness.
A spokeswoman for the city of Houston’s health department, Kathy Barton, said seven students tested positive for Influenza A, a common form of the flu.
She told The Associated Press that confirmatory tests were being run in their lab.
Barton said the illness initially affected third-graders at the school but had spread to other grades and to employees.
She did not know how many members of the staff were sick.