Deadly infection outbreak in Wisconsin gaining urgency - Could we lose all our Cheeseheads?
Calling it the largest outbreak of its kind and stressing the urgency of finding the source, the CDC has identified two more suspected cases of deadly blood infections and sent additional investigators to Wisconsin.
"This is very much a real outbreak," said Michael Bell, deputy director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Investigators have not been able to find a medical product, single facility, food source or other means of exposure that could explain how dozens of people — mostly elderly residents of central and southeastern Wisconsin — have become ill from a bacterium named Elizabethkingia anophelis.
Isolated tests from the two suspected cases had not yet been confirmed, and officials would not say whether the individuals were sickened or had died. As of Tuesday, the outbreak was tied to 44 confirmed cases, including 18 deaths.
Other strains of Elizabethkingia have caused smaller outbreaks in previous years, but most were tied to a single source.
Thus far in Wisconsin's outbreak, the only known commonalities are that the majority of people are 65 or older and have had serious underlying health conditions — although those conditions vary. Many have had recent contact with some type of medical facility, but others have not.
"We have a mixed group of people," Bell said. "A good number hadn't had any contact with a medical facility. They never left home."
Elizabethkingia is a gram-negative bacterium — meaning it's resistant to multiple drugs, including many antibiotics. It's found throughout the environment and is prevalent in soil and water. It can survive on skin — though it is not well-adapted to do so. Instead, it needs warm, moist places to thrive. This specific strain, E. anophelis, is also known to live in the guts of certain mosquitoes.
"This is a particularly challenging outbreak as this bacterium is everywhere in the environment," Bell said. "The number of possible risk factors is tremendous."
CLICK FOR MORE
"This is very much a real outbreak," said Michael Bell, deputy director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Investigators have not been able to find a medical product, single facility, food source or other means of exposure that could explain how dozens of people — mostly elderly residents of central and southeastern Wisconsin — have become ill from a bacterium named Elizabethkingia anophelis.
Isolated tests from the two suspected cases had not yet been confirmed, and officials would not say whether the individuals were sickened or had died. As of Tuesday, the outbreak was tied to 44 confirmed cases, including 18 deaths.
Other strains of Elizabethkingia have caused smaller outbreaks in previous years, but most were tied to a single source.
Thus far in Wisconsin's outbreak, the only known commonalities are that the majority of people are 65 or older and have had serious underlying health conditions — although those conditions vary. Many have had recent contact with some type of medical facility, but others have not.
"We have a mixed group of people," Bell said. "A good number hadn't had any contact with a medical facility. They never left home."
Elizabethkingia is a gram-negative bacterium — meaning it's resistant to multiple drugs, including many antibiotics. It's found throughout the environment and is prevalent in soil and water. It can survive on skin — though it is not well-adapted to do so. Instead, it needs warm, moist places to thrive. This specific strain, E. anophelis, is also known to live in the guts of certain mosquitoes.
"This is a particularly challenging outbreak as this bacterium is everywhere in the environment," Bell said. "The number of possible risk factors is tremendous."
CLICK FOR MORE
Aucun commentaire: