[ex-Texan]

Breaking news because this is breaking news in Longview, Texas .... Wonder if there should be an al Qaeda alert?

Three healthy women die within 16 to 40 hours of getting sick with a flu-like virus. Strange, very strange.

[crypt2k]

Where is the CDC?

[JRandomFreeper]

Self ping to follow this story.

[blam]

Hanta--West nile Virus?

[JZoback]

Wonder if there should be an al Qaeda alert?

I don't want to make light of three people dying, but why on earth would the government post an Al Qaeda warning?

What would you do if they did?

This could be several things, least of all a terrorist attack.

[Domestic Church]

My oldest came down with the nasty tummy virus her younger sibs had(their temps went to 102) one morning during the last week of October and she developed pneumonia rapidly within hours. By suppertime she was fighting for her life at one of the best kids hospitals with a severe attack of asthma on top of the pneumonia, she never had asthma before this and the virus triggered it. If I hadn't taken her as soon as I did she probably would have died too and she turned that green/grey in the ER. It's not just in Texas.

[Lorraine]

I really feel for these families. My best friend died suddenly like this 9 years ago and we never did find out what illness she had. She was only 29 and healthy. She just suddenly got very ill, went to the hospital and died within two days. There were all different types of specialists and infectious disease doctors trying to figure out what was wrong with her. After she died, her parents even paid to have an expert come down from New York to do a second autopsy. They never did figure out what illness she had and it has made it even harder for everyone to accept. I was told then that it happens more often than you would think.

[Palladin]

This sounds like the flu epidemic of 1917-1918. Healthy people were dropping like flies. In letters to my father, who was a soldier in France at the time, his mother writes, worriedly inquiring about his health. "You cannot believe this flu, Jim. People in the neighborhood are dying every day. The crepe (funeral wreath decoration) is on five houses on this block alone." This was in Brooklyn, New York, in the winter of 1918.

[Endeavor]

I'd be interested in following this so if you are able to find new information, could you ping me?

It's a bit early to shout Al Qaeda, but these are unusual deaths.

[Fellow Traveler]

Very scary, I have an aunt and a grandmother who live in Longview, and another aunt who lives in Gilmer. I was just down there deer hunting. I am not a huge fan of Good Sheppard hospital. Frankly they seem to misdiagnos many diseases. Although in these cases it sounds like nothing could be done.

[reformed_democrat]

Bump for later updates.

[RedWhiteBlue]

TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME?

[LadyDoc]

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1648.htm

I presume it is Norwalk virus, similar to what is causing the problem in the Cruise ships.

There is an outbreak of something in East Texas, but don't know if they have the cause yet.

We've been seeing three or four cases a week here. I couldn't find reports on the Texas Public health web site, but I expect a report on the MMR in the near future. Right now, they are more worried about West nile virus and influenza.