As health official continue to search for the origins of the ongoing Elizabethkingiam outbreak, the rare blood infection has now made its wa...
As health official continue to search for the origins of the ongoing Elizabethkingiam outbreak, the rare blood infection has now made its way to a second state. Having already sickened over 50 people since first being detected in Wisconsin in November, the Michigan Department of Health said Thursday that one of its own residents has tested positive for the infection.
After being diagnosed with Elizabethkingiam, the elderly patient with several existing health conditions later died.
The Wisconsin Department of Health has so far confirmed 54 cases of Elizabethkingiam.
“The majority of patients acquiring this infection are over the age of 65, and all patients have a history of at least one underlying serious illness,” read the statement from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The infection has so far been linked with at least 17 fatalities, though official reports have been unable to confirm whether it was the patients’ existing health conditions that caused their deaths, or Elizabethkingiam itself. Though the bacteria isn’t normally harmful to humans, it can be extremely dangerous or potentially fatal for those with underlying health conditions or weak immune systems.
Antibiotics are ineffective against Elizabethkingiam, making treatment very difficult. Characteristic symptoms include bacterial skin infections, chills, breathing difficulties and fever. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has joined forces with Wisconsin health officials to track down the source of the outbreak.
Officials from Michigan are now also investigating.
“Michigan has worked closely with the CDC and Wisconsin Health Department to alert our provider community about the Wisconsin outbreak and to ensure early recognition of potential cases in our state,” read a statement from Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Speaking on behalf of the CDC, Tom Skinner said that while the challenge may be a difficult one, the wider efforts of the US medical community will help isolate the cause of the outbreak.
“The work is labor-intensive,” he said.
“Lots of people are working around the clock, a very wide net has been cast looking at lots of different possibilities.”
via modern readers
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