LOCAL : 2 Children Die, 7 Stricken by Illness Believed Spread at Church Social
Two children died and at least seven others were hospitalized after suddenly coming down with an unexplained illness they apparently developed while attending a social gathering at a Samoan church in Hacienda Heights, authorities said today.
A number of adults who were at the gathering also became ill.
Los Angeles County Fire Department spokeswoman Arden Beer said the children who died lived in the same house, although it was not immediately known whether they were related.
Toby Staheli, a spokeswoman for the Communicable Disease Control section of the county Health Department, said the agency is investigating what may have caused the deaths but has not reached any definite conclusions.
She said investigators are looking into the possibility the illness may be related to a recent outbreak of measles in Long Beach that left two other Samoan children dead.
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