Woman airlifted out of the Grand Canyon as dozens of hikers get sick from unnamed illness

16.06.2024 - 11:43 / insider.com

Dozens of tourists who hiked to a waterfall in the Grand Canyon have fallen ill, including one woman who had to be airlifted out of the national park.

The illnesses broke out near Havasu Falls in the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona this week. Mary Blair told Fox 10 that her family was finishing a four-day hike in the area when her son became sick.

"He was throwing up and having diarrhea all night long. I got him in the river. We were in there at midnight, 1 o'clock, just to lower his body temperature," she told the outlet.

Blair said she later learned her son wasn't the only person struck by illness that night. She told the outlet her family decided to leave the canyon via helicopter and discovered other groups along the way.

"On the way up, all of us were passing people who are throwing up and that's when I was like, what the heck is going on?" she said. "There's probably 60–70 people down the line. There are multiple people throwing up."

Another tourist, Maylin Griffiths, told a local CBS affiliate she and her friends were hiking in the area when she experienced fever-like symptoms, including a 104° temperature. Griffiths had to be airlifted out of the canyon.

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"We were violently ill. They were able to admit us to the clinic there because they considered it life-threatening," she told the outlet.

The Havasupai Tribal Council acknowledged the recent illnesses in a press release on Friday, describing it as "gastrointestinal symptoms."

The council said it held meetings with local health officials, who determined that the symptoms are affecting people across the northern Arizona region. Not just the Havasupai campground.

"The Tribe is working with IHS and other state agencies to further investigate the illness and to take measures to prevent further spreading of the illness not only to campers but to local tribal members," the council said.

The exact cause of the illnesses hasn't been disclosed, but Coconino County shared a health advisory on Wednesday.

"Gastrointestinal illness caused by a virus can spread in settings where people come in close contact with each other and when good hand hygiene is not practiced," the statement said. "These types of outbreaks can be ongoing if appropriate safeguards are not in place."

A county spokesperson told the Associated Press that hikers should take precautions, including monitoring early signs of norovirus. Norovirus, or "stomach flu," can cause vomiting and other symptoms.

Representatives for the Arizona Department of Health Services and Indian Health Services did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.