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Post-hurricane, CDC takes inventory of illnesses

Only one outbreak, of norovirus, serious enough for special response

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SPECIAL REPORT

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Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Mississippi
Louisiana
Hurricane Katrina

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Only one disease outbreak among evacuees and rescue workers required unusual mobilization of public health resources in the first three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

That disease was norovirus, a highly contagious but usually self-limiting outbreak of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea common among cruise ship passengers. It had been reported among evacuees in Texas, the CDC said in a summary of post-Katrina illness.

Symptoms include low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of fatigue. Symptoms typically last a day or two.

With more than 200,000 evacuees in about 750 evacuation centers in at least 18 states, the opportunity for spread of disease was significant, given that many of the evacuees were living in close quarters with limited access to proper hygiene.

The hurricane displaced about 1 million people from 90,000 square miles, the CDC said, when it struck the Gulf Coast on August 29.

The CDC also reported:

  • Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infections occurred among about 30 children and adults at a center in Dallas; three of the cases were confirmed by lab tests. Cases typically show up as skin infections, such as pimples or boils, and are resistant to some antibiotics.
  • Six people died from hurricane-associated Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio Parahaemolyticus in wound infections -- in 24 cases of the afflication. The bacteria can cause vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.They normally live in warm seawater and can be contracted by eating contaminated seafood or exposing an open wound to seawater.
  • Among rescue workers, CDC received reports of two types of infectious skin lesions common among people working in wet environments and three types of non-infectious rashes.
  • There were reports of diarrheal illness and vomiting among evacuees in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee, though the agency said the incidence was dropping.
  • One case of pertussis -- whooping cough -- was diagnosed in a 2-month-old infant rescued from a roof in New Orleans and taken to Tennessee, the disease agency said. The baby was being treated with antibiotics and people who had come in contact with the infant were being tested for the illness.
  • In New Orleans, one patient diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis was isolated; eight others who at first were thought to have the infectious disease were later found to have other conditions.
  • As of September 23, all 27 Alabamans known to have TB before Katrina struck had been identified, as had all 21 in Mississippi, the agency said. But in Louisiana, only 105 of the 147 known to have the illness had been found. Only one of the missing was considered to be contagious, though the agency said public health officials were seeking all of them to ensure they were taking their medication.
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