Multiple rafters have reported being sickened with a mystery illness following visits to the Grand Canyon, leaving doctors stumped, according to a report.
Matthew Wappett “put on” – a rafting term for entering the water – in mid-May and “took out” – a term meaning exited the water – on June 2. He told 12News KPNX that the illness started with an infected knee.
Initially believing that he had skinned his knee, Wappett soon found that it had swelled up and began a course of two oral antibiotics that attacked the swelling and knee infection.
However, he has been left with symptoms akin to the flu.
Describing the experience as “horrible,” he says, “I mean, it feels like I did a hard workout every day, even though I’ve done nothing except for sit on my butt.”
Wappett turned to a Grand Canyon rafter’s Facebook group and found that others had experienced similar symptoms, with one man claiming that doctors were left baffled by his condition.
In that Facebook group, Wappett confirmed that the swelling in his knee was diagnosed as cellulitis. He also shared that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia and that he had sustained some mosquito bites while sleeping outside at a series of camps.
A doctor told him that they believed that he had a summer flu or persistent cold, but Wappett says that his symptoms felt “worse than that.”
“Not sure what this is, but I wouldn’t wish this misery on my worst enemy….it’s really taken a toll on me physically and mentally,” he said.
Another man, Steven King, posted in the same group that four out of 16 of those with whom he had traveled in June had suffered symptoms. Some of the symptoms he listed include fever, chills, weakness and fluid in the lungs.
Doctors suggested that one of his traveling companions had pneumonia, while another tested positive for “cobblestoning (infection/cellulitis).”
King says that he traveled from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek, with Wappett also sharing that he traveled from Lees Ferry to “Diamond.”
A spokesperson for the National Park Service confirmed to 12News KPNX that an investigation is “ongoing,” with the agency’s Office of Public Health leading the probe in coordination with “public health partners.”
The spokesperson added that it was aware of a range of Facebook posts describing the illnesses, but noted that they were unable to comment on specifics. The statement concluded, “We will share additional information with the public as it becomes available.”
The Independent has contacted the National Park Service for further comment.
