UPDATE:

Michigan patient dies after contracting mystery infection linked to Wisconsin outbreak

Why CDC isn't sending 'disease detectives' to investigate Michigan's deadly infection



WEST MICHIGAN - A bloodstream infection that matches an ongoing bacteria outbreak in Wisconsin has been identified in Michigan, according to the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

The state agency says a blood sample from "an older adult from West Michigan with underlying health conditions" has an infection caused by Elizabethkingia anophelis, which has affected 54 people in 12 Wisconsin counties across Lake Michigan, from Milwaukee west to Madison. So far, 17 people infected by the bacteria have died.

"Michigan has worked closely with the (Centers for Disease Control) and Wisconsin Health Department to alert our provider community about the Wisconsin outbreak and to ensure early recognition of potential cases in our state," said Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service, in a prepared statement.

"Timely diagnosis is key to ensuring patients receive appropriate treatment, and we will continue to provide updates and guidance as additional information becomes available."

It's not known exactly where in West Michigan the patient is from. Kent County Health Department officials said the case is not in their area.

Elizabethkingia rarely makes people sick, and in the current outbreak is ailing mostly people who are age 65 and older and dealing with serious health issues, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Signs and symptoms that resulting from the bacteria can include fever, shortness of breath, chills or cellulitis.

The CDC, which has sent disease detectives to Wisconsin to figure out why the outbreak is happening, says cases are being found primarily among people in hospitals or in nursing facilities, the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reports.

"It is not the kind (of infection) that is common in the community," said Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. "It is not something one gets just walking around."

Unlike past outbreaks of Elizabethkingia, the bacteria is causing severe infections in the current outbreak and the cases are not concentrated in a single facility or community, the Journal Sentinel reports.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services identified Elizabethkingia in the West Michigan sample Feb. 29 and forwarded it to the CDC for testing, according to the agency.

Matt Vande Bunte writes about government and other issues on MLive. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.