Rare Bacterial Infection Strikes 2 Infants in New Mexico
State and national health officials are investigating how two babies in New Mexico became infected by Enterobacter sakazakii, a bacteria that has been associated in the past with powdered infant formula.
One of the kids, a 7-month-old boy from Holloman Air Force Base in Otero County, died Nov. 11 at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, N.M. The other, a female infant from Lea County, has been hospitalized, newspapers in the state have reported.
The rare infections -- there are only 120 recorded cases throughout the world of all age groups -- are being probed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), theU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the New Mexico Department of Health, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator and the New Mexico Environment Department.
Air Force Col. Jeffrey Harrigian told the El Paso Times that experts conducted extensive tests at the military base and interviewed the deceased baby's family. A press release from the New Mexico Department of Health said lab tests showed that the two babies were sickened by different strains of Enterobacter sakazakii, also known as E. sakazakii, But the release said both infants had consumed powdered milk as part of their respective diets.
According to past CDC writings about E. sakazakii, infections are rare but can be very serious, sometimes leading to menengitis -- an infection of spinal fluid and of membranes surrounding the brain. Infants are the most susceptible.
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