Lawsuit filed against Tanganyika as health officials say cause of illnesses is unknown

A lawsuit filed Tuesday against Tanganyika Wildlife Park alleges unsanitary conditions led to an outbreak of an unknown disease connected to the zoo’s water park.

Public health officials have not determined what caused people to get sick.

“The investigation is ongoing,” said Matt Fouts, Tanganyika’s director. “We are waiting for the test results. Our concern is the safety of our visitors and we keep at this until we get the answers and the splash park will remain closed until we can ensure it’s safe. “

Elena Davis claims in the lawsuit that she and her three children became “violently ill and suffered repeated bouts of vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever,” as well as other symptoms. Severe symptoms send one of her children to the hospital, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in Sedgwick County District Court two days after government health agencies publicly acknowledged their investigation. The family is represented by attorneys Coleman J. Younger and Tyler Patterson of the Patterson Legal Group, a prominent personal injury law firm in the Wichita area.

“Many children and adults were unknowingly exposed to a pathogen and have suffered violent periods of illness,” Younger said in a news release.

The lawyers allege that Tanganyika failed to maintain proper sanitary conditions and did not warn guests about the outbreak in a timely fashion.

“It’s a very scary situation for all involved, especially the children who fell seriously ill,” Younger said. “Businesses have a responsibility to the public to ensure that splash parks are operated in a safe manner to ensure situations like this do not happen.”

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Sedgwick County Health Department opened an investigation on Friday after several cases of a “diarrheal illness” were connected to Tanganyika’s Splash Park. The wildlife park voluntarily closed the Splash Park after learning of the illnesses, though it is unclear how quickly that decision was made.

The KDHE statement said the zoo closed its Splash Park “immediately after learning of the illnesses” on Friday. However, a statement from Fouts said the decision was made “toward the end of the day Saturday.”

The health departments ask people who experienced symptoms of fever, diarrhea or vomiting after visiting Tanganyika since May 28 to take an online survey at https://tinyurl.com/kdhesplash. Responses to the survey are confidential and will only be viewed by the public health staff investigating the outbreak of illnesses.

When asked how many people have been hospitalized after visiting Tanganyika, Sedgwick County Health Director Adrienne Byrne said, “We are not aware of connections between anyone hospitalized at this time.”

The public health investigation is in its early stages. Test results on water from the splash park are not yet available.

“Samples obtained on Saturday will likely be back next week some time,” Byrne said.

Patterson Legal Group has a sponsored Facebook post asking people who became sick after visiting Tanganyika to call the law firm.

“We believe there may have been a dangerous pathogen in the water that caused serious illness to children and adults at the splash park,” the law firm said in a Facebook comment.

The lawsuit states that the family got sick “as a part of an outbreak of unknown matter or origin, or norovirus, or plesiomonas shigelloides, or adenovirus, or rhinovirus, or enterovirus, or dysentery, and/or other viruses” at Tanganyika’s Splash Park. The lawsuit suggests that human or animal fecal matter may have been the cause. Alleged negligence led to unsanitary conditions, according to the lawyers.

The lawsuit seeks an amount in excess of $75,000 to cover medical bills, and pain and suffering.

Fouts has said in previous statements that “we are not trying to cover anything up.”

“As a father whose kids have been playing in the splash park regularly and an uncle whose nephew is working in the splash park daily, I understand and share your safety concerns,” he said. “It is in no one’s best interest, including our family-owned businesses, to have people getting sick due to visiting.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 9:29 PM.