Deadly Cold Virus Strikes Disabled in N.Y.

MONDAY, June 2, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- New York health officials are investigating a mysterious virus that has attacked a Yonkers home for the developmentally disabled and left as many as three people there dead. But health officials say the virus is definitely not SARS.

The organism, which has been identified as an adenovirus, has sickened more than 40 people at the center, Richmond of New York, since it appeared last month, according to WABC-TV in New York. Adenoviruses typically cause cold-like symptoms, but they can lead to serious infections in people with weakened immune systems.

"With this population, which is very medically involved, what happens is their immune system doesn't fight it," says Maryann Arcoleo-Koltun, Richmond's senior vice president.

Officials at the facility first began noticing fevers in residents about two weeks ago. Tests revealed the presence of adenovirus. Four residents have died since the outbreak began, though only three, and possibly just two, of those deaths are probably related to the infection, she says.

Seven Richmond residents remain in the hospital as the facility undergoes decontamination, Arcoleo-Koltun says. Staff go around in gowns and gloves and hand-washing is rigorous. Meanwhile, daytime activities that take residents off the Yonkers campus have been temporarily suspended.

Arcoleo-Koltun says that step doesn't constitute a quarantine because staff members are allowed to leave the grounds.

Health officials stress that the disease is not related to sudden acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. New York has had 47 possible cases of SARS since the outbreak began last winter. The state has reported no recent cases of the illness.

Arcoleo-Koltun says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not yet involved in the investigation.

More information

For more on adenoviruses, try the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or KidsHealth.