Dozens of students sickened at Somerset County high school

BOSWELL, Pa. (KDKA) -- Officials are trying to figure out why more than three dozen students at a Somerset County high school ended up at the hospital. 

Forty-one students at North Star High School were taken to the hospital, CBS affiliate WTAJ reported.

On Thursday, multiple students reported feeling sick, prompting some to be referred to the hospital for further testing

The Boswell Fire Department was called in around 8:30 a.m. to run testing on the school and help with the students. However, there were no readings for carbon monoxide in the area of the hallways, WTAJ said. The EPA mobile lab also ran multiple tests, screening for over 1,000 different types of chemicals, but those tests turned up negative too, the TV station reported. 

Later in the afternoon, the school said North Star students at Somerset Vo-Tech also began exhibiting symptoms of lightheadedness, dizziness and lethargy, and they were also taken to the emergency room, WTAJ said. 

The students taken to the hospital were drug screened, WTAJ said, citing the North Star superintendent. There's no known connection between the 41 students who got sick. The superintendent also said no school or EMT staff got sick, saying, "it's all very strange," according to the TV station. 

Officials are still trying to figure out what made the students sick. The high school operated on a flexible instruction day on Friday.