Deadly Outbreak At N.J. Convention

[Guest guest]

http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/story/0,1597,328905-412,00.shtml

Deadly Outbreak At N.J. Convention

Woman Dies, More Than 80 Taken To Hospital After Falling Ill

CHERRY HILL, N.J. , Feb. 10, 2002

(AP) More than 80 people were treated at a hospital and one woman died

Sunday after falling ill at a mortgage company's convention, held at a

suburban Philadelphia hotel.

Doctors said the woman had signs of bacterial pneumonia and a rash

associated with the types of bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis.

" Because it could - and I emphasize 'could' - be the form of meningococcal

disease, we've offered preventative antibiotics with those who had close

contact, " said Dr. Condoluci, chief of infectious diseases at Kennedy

Memorial Hospitals.

He expected laboratory results on Monday.

Seven people were hospitalized and 77 other convention-goers went to the

emergency room at Kennedy Memorial Hospitals-Cherry Hill on Sunday, hospital

spokeswoman Pensiero said.

Joanne Hemstreet, 45, of Kingston, Mass., was among 500 people at Cendant

Mortgage's annual meeting for sales staff Saturday when she began

complaining of headache, fever, chills and vomiting, Condoluci said.

Her condition worsened throughout the day, and she was critically ill when

she arrived at the hospital that evening. She died early Sunday, Condoluci

said.

Health officials said the illness is not highly contagious. But the Cherry

Hill Hilton was quarantined Sunday from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m., night manager

Glenn Oldack said.

Pat Cummings, Cendant Mortgage's vice president of administration, said the

company would issue a statement later Sunday.

Standing near the emergency room entrance, Cummings said two company vans

were waiting to bring employees back to the hotel. Eighteen people arrived

at the hospital in a company van Sunday morning.

" There's still people who are coming in on their own, " he said.

None of the seven people hospitalized was in critical condition, Condoluci

said. Among the 77 others, he said, six were given antibiotics because they

may have come in contact with Hemstreet's bodily fluids.

" Otherwise, being in the same room or being in the hotel, it's not necessary

for those people to be given antibiotics, " he said.

The Camden County Health Department was talking to convention-goers at the

hotel Sunday morning, Condoluci said. Health officials and other local

authorities remained at the Hilton just before noon.

The illnesses conjured memories of another illness outbreak at a

Philadelphia-area convention 25 years ago. Legionnaires' disease, a

respiratory infection generally spread through inhalation of mist from

contaminated water, was discovered in 1976, when 34 people died and 221

became ill at an American Legion convention. Condoluci said Legionnaire's

disease does not appear to be the cause of Sunday's illnesses.

©MMII The Associated Press. .