WI, federal health officials search for link in infection deaths

State and federal health officials are scrambling to learn how Elizabethkingia anophelis, a bacteria linked to 18 deaths and 44 cases of infection in southern Wisconsin, has been spreading. The investigation, which began when six cases were reported to the state between Dec. 29 and Jan. 5, now includes several dozen Wisconsin epidemiologists and lab workers as well as five "disease detectives" sent from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cases come from 11 counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Jefferson, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sauk, Washington and Waukesha.