With print and broadcast media providing around-the-clock coverage of ebola, overlooked is a mystery disease that so far has affected 65 U.S. Marines, up from 31 last month, with more expected to become ill, finds Grumpy Editor.
The ailing 3rd Division Marines recently trained at the Jungle Warfare Training Center at Camp Gonsalves in northern Okinawa.
In uncovering this, Matthew M. Burke, a reporter on the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, said, “Symptoms included fever and chills, head and muscle aches, nausea and vomiting, jaundice, abdominal pain, diarrhea and rashes. Some cases were mild; others required hospitalization.”
Burke mentioned Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joy Dierks, a III Marine Expeditionary Force preventative medicine officer, and her team from U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa were tasked with figuring out the cause and stopping it before more become ill.
One suspected source: Leptospirosis, which the World Health Organization described as a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Early stages may include high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, chills, redness in the eyes, abdominal pain, jaundice, hemorrhages in skin and mucous membranes (including pulmonary bleeding), vomiting, diarrhea and a rash.
But pinpointing it will not come soon. Burke said Dierks believes definitive answers are expected by the end of next month.
In the meantime, Marines continued training at the Jungle Warfare Training Center but water submersion in pools and pits was prohibited, added Burke. Marines have also been instructed to wash down thoroughly after training and dry their uniforms.
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