Quick Update on Unidentified Killer Illness
Not much new to report. I was at the news conference this evening at the Ministry of Health. There are now CDC guys on the ground and more coming. The numbers are up by one, 28 total cases and 18 dead. Of the remaining ten there are two in the ICU. Investigators are looking hard into all angles and have been concentrating on the medicines that the ill patients have been taking. They went to the houses, recovered prescribed meds as well as over the counter medicines and things like home remedies. They are in the process of comparing the charts of the patients and their medical histories to the medicines they have been taking. The problem is that there is apparently no single common thread that runs through all of the victims. They are also looking into things like the possibility of contaminated foods or water, but in every case there are other persons in the same household, friends for family members who ate the same foods and did not get sick. (more)Working Hard: Health Minister Dr. Camilo Alleyne repeated his message to the Panamanian people that they are putting the best interests of the Panamanian people first and foremost. He took offense at some of the rumors that are flying around, and said that "this is a serious issue, and it is being handled by serious people."
Still a Cluster: They're going to be needing a bigger briefing room. The international press is starting to arrive and the room they were using was just large enough for the local media. And they still need someone to handle the media in a professional manner. But at least they are sticking to the once a day news drop, even if there's not much new to say.
Tissue Samples: There is an airplane coming down right now (it's probably already on the ground) that will be flying an additional round of tissue samples back to the United States for testing. The plan is still to round up everything, meds, tissues, blood, urine, and send it all back to the US for testing.
Rumors Abound: There's still a huge vacuum of information which is being filled with a new rumor every thirty seconds. I've gotten to the point where I'm asking for solid information, actual names and numbers of people who were supposedly infected but have gotten better. And, they have not released a complete list of victims, where they lived, etc.
Apparently Not Contagious: The good news is that close family, friends, and health care workers are not showing symptoms. The bad news is that these 28 people all got sick somehow, and no one know how.
Focusing In On a Toxin: Right now the efforts are continuing to eliminate known viruses and bacteria as a possible cause and the attention is shifting towards the possibility of some kind of toxin at work. Maybe it was bad meds, maybe it was food, maybe it's something else.
No Explosion of New Cases: The other good news is that there was one outburst of cases and then not much new. The 28 people that are ill have all been identified, and there's not like 20 or 50 or 1,000 new cases being reported every day.
Not the First Time: Dr. Alleyne mentioned that this is not the first time that Panama has been through this type of emergency. When the cholera outbreak occurred it took them some time to recognize it as cholera. Same thing with the hanta virus, same thing with the cases of radiation overdose at the cancer hospital. Sooner or later you figure it out, it just takes time.
The Costa Rica Rumor: There was a rumor flying around today that Costa Rica has closed their borders with Panama. Health officials said that's not true, and that they have been in contact with Costa Rican health officials and are exchanging information, but that the border remains open.
Social Security Focus: The Director of the Social Security system said that "there are more than 3 million people in Panama, and 2.2 million of them are covered by the Social Security health system" so of course there's a good chance that these cases would originate in people who are in the social security system.
Small Number of Cases: Right now 0.000008% of the Panamanian population has been affected by this illness. Your chances of getting hit with this are slim, and even slimmer if you're a woman. 90% of the cases are men.
Scratch "high fever": Health officials put out today that they are taking "high fever" off of the list of symptoms for this illness. The progression remains diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and headache, followed by acute renal failure, severe reduction in the production of urine (to zero), a neurological element which manifests itself with paralysis around the face, heaviness or numbness of the limbs, and eventually death.
More Coming: That's about all of the high-points of this evening's news brief. I've got some appointments scheduled for tomorrow and will hopefully have some more information soon. But for the most part, there's simply not much new.
