Cause of kids' sickness outbreak in Llangollen confirmed by public health chiefs
The cause of an outbreak that forced a concert to be cancelled at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod last night (Wednesday), has been confirmed by health chiefs.
A number of children were taken to hospital with "flu-like symptoms" and an "extraordinary medical incident was declared by the Welsh Ambulance Service.
Sir Karl Jenkins was scheduled to take centre stage at the Pavilion and conduct his powerful masterpiece, One World, live. It was billed as a concert that "brings together voices from around the globe to celebrate peace, harmony, and the universal language of music." It is the first time in the Eisteddfod's history it has had to cancel an event in this way.
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In a further update today (Thursday) Dr Giri Shankar, Director of Health Protection for Public Health Wales, said: 'The visitors to the Llangollen International Eisteddfod who were assessed in hospital last night will be discharged this morning.
"Tests carried out on these children have indicated the presence of common respiratory viruses, including flu. They are being treated appropriately and are recovering. The risk to the public remains low'.
Earlier Chris Williams, Consultant in Health Protection for PHW, said: 'We are aware that a small group of children who were visiting the Eisteddfod at Llangollen were taken to hospital this evening (Wednesday). Currently, the children are being medically assessed for mild respiratory symptoms, but they are not seriously unwell.'
The Llangollen International Eisteddfod issued two statements last night as the emergency unfolded. The first said: "Due to an extraordinary medical incident - tonight's event has been cancelled.
"We want to thank our own medical teams who are managing the extraordinary medical incident. We are working with the Ambulance services and medical teams managing the incident giving them the support necessary.
"The Llangollen International Eisteddfod intends to run as normal from 9am tomorrow, but this will be based on the expert medical advice we receive. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Another statement was released by the festival later, which gave more details and also confirming the site was clear to reopen by 9am today.
It said: "Further to the previous statement, we can confirm that following the declaration of an extraordinary incident by the Welsh Ambulance Service, following Public Health Wales advice - the incident related to a flu-like outbreak and related to multiple people with similar symptoms. The extraordinary incident was called by the Welsh Ambulance Service due to the number of people who presented ill at one time.
"We are pleased to report our site has been cleared to reopen tomorrow at 9am, as we continue to welcome the world to Wales. We'd like to thank our staff, medical staff and our volunteers for their swift response this evening."
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