Mysterious poisonings in the Marne: what are the avenues after the new wave of illnesses which affected 9 children ?

Des malaises ont touché des élèves et des adultes d’un établissement scolaire de la Marne (illustration). Unsplash – Taylor Flowe

9 enfants et 3 adultes ont été touchés par une nouvelle vague de malaise ce jeudi 20 juin 2024 à Fère-Champenoise, dans la Marne. Les investigations se poursuivent pour en déterminer les causes.

This Thursday, June 20, 2024, twelve new cases of illness were recorded in Fère-Champenoise in Marne, reveals France 3. Among them, nine children and three adults. These discomforts come three weeks after the discovery of several poisonings whose symptoms are worrying (nausea, itching, drowsiness…) and illnesses of children in the Marne commune, linked to reasons still unknown.

"These symptoms were felt at the association house upon returning from an hour-long outing to the nearby playground. The children and affected adults were taken care of by SDIS 51 and 8 children were transported to the Châlons-en-Champagne hospital center", explains the Marne prefecture to our colleagues.

The possibilities of carbon monoxide, food poisoning or linked to the water fountain had been mentioned. But the regional health agency had ruled out these first hypotheses.

Research still in progress

These nine new cases had not been affected on May 30 and 31, the dates of the first illnesses. This time it concerns students aged 5 to 6 and a new area has been affected around the association center. The ATMO and ARS services are still looking for the causes of these problems by testing the air quality in particular.

"We are pursuing all avenues so that we can methodically close the different hypotheses. There they were little ones, a little younger than those previously affected, which clearly shows that there is no precise location since they were not in the same place as those touched previously. We have research done on all gases. So far, no gas has been found. We also took samples when the children had symptoms, we will have the results over the weekend", details the prefect of Marne Henri Prevost.

The mayor of the commune Gérard Gorisse gives as a hypothesis concerning the cause of these poisonings: the rise of gas coming from the water table. Indeed, episodes of malaise have often appeared following episodes of rain. "There is a meteorological phenomenon because we realize that it's during fairly rainy periods that it perhaps emerges from the ground", supposes Gérard Gorisse.

"This morning, samples could be taken almost synchronously. The results will be known during the weekend", assures Henry Prévost, the prefect of Marne to TF1 Info. But this lead has not been confirmed for the moment.