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Commentary
Flu-like Death
Cluster In Calvert County Maryland Grows
Recombinomics Commentary 18:30
March 6, 2012
The above comments are anecdotal and posted in response to one of several media reports which have cited 4-5 people who were hospitalized including 3-4 who have died with flu-like symptoms, including pneumonia. The cases are under investigation by health and criminal agencies. The fatality rate in the family appears to be in the 75-100% range, raising serious concerns.
Calvert County is adjacent to the Delmarva peninsula, which has a high poultry population, while the Chesapeake Bay region attracts wild birds. In Asia, clade 2.3.2.1 has expanded is geographical range via infections in wild birds, and this clade has been linked to fatal H5N1 infections, although not in a cluster as large as the one reported for Calvert County.
Similarly, the CDC reported a spike in H3N2 low reactors, but the relationship between these low reactors and seasonal or variant (H3N2v) isolates remains unclear. However, neither has been linked previous with a death cluster of this size. Recent discussions of H5N1 transmission have invoked bioterrorism, which may be the cause of the criminal investigation of a death cluster near Washington, DC.
More detail on the above anecdotal report, as well as symptoms and testing on the fatal cases, would be useful.
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