--- title: The Curious Disease Infecting Elderly People in Wisconsin description: Experts are investigating an outbreak of the bloodstream infection Elizabethkingia canonical: https://time.com/4257603/wisconsin-disease-elderly-elizabethkingia/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-14T16:48:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:04.474Z article:section: Health og:title: The Curious Disease Infecting Elderly People in Wisconsin og:description: 15 people have died after being infected with the bacteria Elizabethkingia og:url: https://time.com/4257603/wisconsin-disease-elderly-elizabethkingia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Curious Disease Infecting Elderly People in Wisconsin twitter:description: 15 people have died after being infected with the bacteria Elizabethkingia twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The Curious Disease Infecting Elderly People in Wisconsin > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=49c9e668-4c5b-47cc-b393-1beb36fc91a2&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life [Watch (HLS stream): The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/orlnwhNb.m3u8) (7:08)  _Published 2014-05-23. Here's how the people of Ikaria, Greece reach old age_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 14, 2016 4:48 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 14, 2016 4:48 PM UTC Fifteen people in Wisconsin have died after being infected with a bacteria called [_Elizabethkingia_](https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/disease/elizabethkingia.htm), and health experts have not yet figured out how it is spreading. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is investigating the infections, which so far have been reported in 48 people—primarily over age 65—since November 2015\. The department was first tipped off to the outbreak when six potential cases were reported at the end of December and early January. The cluster is of concern since _Elizabethkingia_ rarely causes infections in people. Fifteen people with the infection have died so far, though experts say they cannot confirm whether their deaths were due to the bacteria or an underlying health problem. All of the people infected had a history of at least one separate and serious health complication. Authorities are also concerned because _Elizabethkingia_ is a type of bacteria that is hard to treat with antibiotics and is often resistant to them. Symptoms are fever, shortness of breath and chills. The bacteria is named after a CDC scientist, Elizabeth O. King, who discovered it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is helping Wisconsin identify a possible source of the infection by testing samples from water and healthcare products, but no source has been confirmed. [According to STAT](http://www.statnews.com/2016/03/14/disease-outbreak-wisconsin/), samples from infected people are very genetically similar, which suggests that the people could be getting their infections from a shared place. The number of people infected is abnormal, as states usually see fewer than a dozen cases a year, STAT reports. The investigation is ongoing, and Wisconsin DHS will be updating the number of people infected [here](https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/disease/elizabethkingia.htm) every Wednesday. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ]. Ikaria is a very unique island. The people are not what you would find in other places, they have a different lifestyle, a different way of looking at life. We might seem like we're not getting things done, or we might be moving slowly, but we just move at our own pace and things do get done in the end. Being Ikaria is an identity unto itself. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ] People wanna live long, it's natural. Life is a gift, and people want to enjoy it. [ MUSIC ] Unfortunately, you know, Athens is not a carrier. Athens is a big city, people are crowded, crowding alone is a major stress. It's difficult to live there, connected life. There is a lot of obesity, there is a lot of anxiety. We've started already to be seeing the results of stress. In Ikaria they're not crowded, they have the water right next to them. Just the environment where they live, it's better. [ FOREIGN ] [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ FOREIGN ]. It's the people of Ikaria that make the difference, the people are really for Ikaria. In Ikaria, it's cultural, it's an epicurean culture, they avoid stress, or cope well with it. When they cannot avoid it, they seek small pleasures. They live the day as it comes. So, somehow naturally, they're doing things that we should all be doing. [ FOREIGN ]. I got money from my uncle Giannis. He said to me, come with me for work, for one week and I will give you money, I said, okay. I went first three days, and then I said, I, I quit, I cannot do it anymore. I was waking up at 6 o'clock and working until, four, five and he was saying, come on, let's go, let's go until night. [ FOREIGN ]. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. In the documentaries they show only old people, they don't show nothing else, old people and the nature. They don't show the young people, what are they doing in their lives, you know? [ NOISE ]. I don't think that I would live so many years as them because, with the live that we are doing now it's, it's bad because we drink alcohol so much. We don't sleep good. [ NOISE ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. I'm looking forward to the people of Ikaria being able to come together, and work for the good of their island. And I'm also looking forward to the next generation, to see how they turn out and where they're going to be in 20 years time. I think it's gonna be a very interesting journey. We like the tradition of Ikaria, the history, the music, the culture, everything. We like it, and we trying, I think, my generation is trying to keep it, you know, not lose it. What I learn a lot from the older people is their sense of continuity, their strong sense of family, their strong sense of, my children have grown. I've seen my grandchildren, my life is complete, I'm fulfilled. They're not looking for new things. They're enjoying the things that they have in the moments they have. They're not looking for the next one, and the next one before they've actually enjoyed the present one. 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