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 The resident was elderly and had underlying health conditions, but a
blood culture revealed the presence of the Elizabethkingia bacteria,
Michigan health officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed the test, the
officials said.
Michigan's health and human services department previously asked
providers and laboratories to review records for Elizabethkingia in
light of the outbreak in Wisconsin, which has infected at least 54
people since November, most of them elderly.
The patients who have died in Wisconsin had serious underlying
conditions, according to health officials, and it remains unclear
whether the bacteria caused all of the deaths.
Wisconsin and Michigan investigators are working with the CDC to
determine the possible source of the bacteria, which only rarely
causes illness in humans.
Officials have previously said that the CDC has eight disease
detectives in Wisconsin and laboratory staff in its Atlanta
headquarters working on the outbreak.
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Symptoms of Elizabethkingia infection can include fever, shortness
of breath, and chills or cellulitis. Confirmation of the illness
requires a laboratory test.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; editing by Grant McCool)
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