Mystery Respiratory Illness In Argentina Prompts Investigation After 3 People Die

Topline

Three people have died from a mysterious respiratory illness in Argentina this week, local health authorities announced on Thursday, with experts hunting for the cause after ruling out common suspects like Covid and the flu.

Key Facts

Nine people have come down with an unexplained form of pneumonia in Argentina’s Tucuman province, officials announced Thursday.

Three have died from the mystery disease—officials say it is similar to Covid—and at least four are receiving treatment in hospital.

Officials have already ruled out usual suspects like Covid-19, common forms of the flu, hantavirus and 25 other pathogens as possible causes for the outbreak and samples have been sent to the Malbran Institute in Buenos Aires for further testing.

Cases are clustered around the medical clinic—eight of the nine afflicted people worked at the center—and experts are monitoring contacts of sick people and other staff at the clinic for signs of disease, which include difficulty breathing, fever, diarrhea and body aches (none have displayed symptoms so far).

Investigators said they have not determined whether the disease is caused by an infectious agent or something in the environment and they are also analyzing water and air conditioners for possible contamination.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the dedicated international health agency in the Americas and the World Health Organization’s office in the region, said it is monitoring the situation alongside Argentine health authorities.

What To Watch For

Further investigations. A 70-year-old woman admitted to the clinic for surgery and who has since died from the disease has been flagged as a possible “patient zero” for the outbreak. The term is usually used to refer to the first documented patient in an infectious disease outbreak (scientists prefer to use “index case”). Medina told reporters this is still being evaluated.

Key Background

While reports of an unexplained pneumonia harks back to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not necessarily cause for alarm. Unexplained clusters of disease do crop up and it’s possible the outbreak could be caused by something rare that labs do not routinely test for, rather than a new pathogen. It could also stem from something in the environment patients were exposed to that has yet to be identified. Crucial information on the cause of the disease and, if infectious, how it transmits will be needed to make any accurate assessment.

Further Reading

Covid Has Reached Every Corner Of The World—But These Three Places Claim To Be Virus-Free (Forbes)

Three dead of mystery pneumonia in Argentina, six others ill (AFP)