The rare bacterial infections began cropping up late last year across parts of southeastern Wisconsin, affecting dozens of people that had little in common, other that their advanced age and a history of existing health problems.
A dozen people got sick, and then another dozen. More than four months later, the number has grown to 48. So far, 18 patients have died, though it remains unclear if the infection was to blame. Federal and state authorities are still trying to figure out where the infections are coming from, and investigators remain baffled. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services traces the outbreak — involving a bacteria called Elizabethkingia, which is prevalent in the environment but usually not harmful to most people — to last November.
