(MCT)
MIAMI ? "Patient Zero," the first victim to come down with the rare strain of meningitis that has killed four and infected eight others in South Florida since December, was a South Florida resident who was sickened in December but has since recovered, health department officials said Friday.
Citing medical privacy laws, officials won't identify the person any more closely. But investigators now are trying to find links among the victims.
"We've looked at where they ate, where they shopped, where they socialized, their personal habits. We haven't uncovered the link yet," said Dr. Vincent Conte, senior physician for the Miami-Dade Health Department.
But since the W135 strain is so rare, health officials believe there is some connection by which it was passed on from Patient Zero to the other 11 victims.
"Based on epidemiological principles, to see this many W135s ? the strain of meningitis ? in such a short period of time, all identical biologically, it points to a common thread," Conte said.
The W135, which accounts for about 3 percent of all meningitis strains, can kill within hours of symptoms. Anyone experiencing severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck should see a doctor immediately, health officials warned.
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