MILROY - A school district official has confirmed that more than two dozen students at Armagh Elementary school suddenly became ill around lunchtime on Thursday.

Mifflin County School District Superintendent David Runk said a total of 28 students felt sick and began to vomit after eating lunch at the school.

"It seems coincidental that half an hour after eating lunch, these kids got sick," Runk said.

Runk said school officials have not yet confirmed whether this was an instance of food poisoning, but he did say the Pennsylvania Department of Health will be analyzing the food served to the children to determine what might have been the cause of the illness. Runk said the children at Armagh Elementary were served the same food as children in other schools within the district, but similar illnesses were not reported at the other schools.

The father of a sick student, who requested anonymity, said 17 children from Armagh Elementary were taken by their parents Thursday evening to the Lewistown Hospital emergency room for treatment.

Another area resident who said her friend's daughter was taken to the emergency room, also said there were a total of 17 children from the school in the emergency room. A nursing supervisor at the hospital confirmed that several sick children were brought into the emergency room on Thursday, but said the hospital would not release any additional information on Thursday evening.

The father said three teachers also became sick on Thursday. Runk said he could not confirm whether any teachers had taken ill, but he did say that some do eat lunch at the school. Runk also said he knew some teachers had gone to Lewistown Hospital but he wasn't sure if that was due to illness.

Runk said the principal of Armagh Elementary school, Mike LaMarca, along with the district's food supervisor and officials from the Department of Health would be meeting on Friday morning to continue their investigation into the illnesses at the school.