Elizabethkingia Outbreak Reported in Wisconsin
The rare bacterial infection has sickened dozens
Wisconsin health authorities are investigating an outbreak of a rare bacterial infection called Elizabethkingia.
It has mainly affected people over 65 and those with a
history of at least one serious illness, according to
a statement
released this week from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Since
November 1, 44 cases have been reported.
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"Elizabethkingia are bacteria that are rarely reported
to cause illness in humans, and are uncommon colonizers of the respiratory
tract," said the statement.
The cases were found in southern and southeastern Wisconsin,
according to the Division of Public Health (DPH).
Elizabethkingia
meningoseptica
is a Gram negative, rod-shaped bacterium named
after American bacteriologist Elizabeth King, who discovered it in 1959.
It’s widely distributed in soil, plants and water, but it
rarely infects humans.
When it does, it mainly targets adults who are sick (with a
disease such as cancer, diabetes or renal disease) or immunocompromised. It’s
antibiotic-resistant,
and the infection can be fatal.
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“Early detection and treatment with an
effective antibiotic regimen is important to increase the probability of good
outcomes,” the statement notes.
Although the bacteria are resistant to some
drugs, tests on samples from the current outbreak show several types of
antibiotics should work.
Symptoms include shortness of breath, fever, chills and
cellulitis, a bacterial infection of the skin and tissues
beneath it. A laboratory
test is needed to confirm infection.
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