29 people sickened at UW-Madison health clinic; cause unknown

Jesse Garza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Twenty-nine people were taken to hospitals Friday after becoming ill at a University of Wisconsin-Madison health clinic, the Madison Fire Department reported.

The cause of the outbreak about 10:30 a.m. at the UW Health West Clinic in the 400 block of Junction Road remained under investigation Friday, according to a Fire Department news release.

Clinic officials were exploring whether sewer gas entered the building, according to the release.

Members of the Fire Department's Hazardous Incident Team, along with Madison Gas and Electric, confirmed there was no natural gas leak, ruled out carbon monoxide and determined that interior oxygen levels were normal, according to the release.

A patient who was being taken to a hospital said the smell of sewer gas that wafted into the ambulance was similar to the odor she smelled inside the clinic. Investigators, however, noticed no such an odor while at the clinic, which was closed for the remainder of Friday, according to the release.