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Unexplained respiratory disease outbreaks common in US
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Of the 57 investigations of unexplained respiratory disease outbreaks reported to the Unexplained Respiratory Disease Outbreak working group between March 2007 and September 2011, 41 occurred in the United States vs. 16 that occurred internationally, according to data published in a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
According to the report, the Unexplained Respiratory Disease Outbreak (URDO) group is a team of CDC officials with expertise in respiratory diseases. It was formed to assist public health officials in investigation of respiratory disease outbreaks.
In 29 of the investigations, an etiology was identified. Among these, the most common pathogens were non-influenza respiratory viruses, which accounted for 41%. Influenza viruses were responsible for 17%, Mycoplasma pneumoniae was responsible for 14% and Bordetella pertussis was responsible for 14%.
Five of the investigations involved multiple etiologies.
From illness onset of the first case to notification of URDO, the median time was 33 days. In 51 of the investigations, there were two or more cases and 36 investigations had the number of deaths reported. Thirty-two of the investigations had data on the number of hospitalizations and 52 of the investigations reported age ranges of the affected people.
“Reducing delays in sample collection, epidemiologic investigations and consultation with the URDO working group might increase the ability to identify etiologies and lead to more rapid control of these unexplained respiratory disease outbreaks,” the researchers wrote.
References:
CDC. MMWR. 2012;61:480-483.
Disclosures:
The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.