A cluster of cases of a rare illness that can lead to nerve damage and paralysis has been identified along a small stretch of the United States-Mexico
border. An outbreak of food poisoning is the likely culprit, health officials in the two countries said.
At least two dozen people in Yuma County, Ariz., and San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, have been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome in the
past month, with some left drastically impaired by the illness that triggers the body's auto-immune reaction.
“It’s really attacking the nerves,” said Shoana Anderson, office chief of infectious disease at the Arizona Department of Health Services. “All of the
patients I’ve seen are not able to walk.”
Most of the victims, including 17 from Mexico and seven from the U.S., are adults who range in age from 40 to 70, although younger people also have
been affected, Anderson said. Some patients have muscle weakness in their upper bodies as well as in their legs, she added. It's not clear how quickly
they may recover.
Guillian-Barré Syndrome, or GBS, typically affects only about 1 in 100,000 people, according to government health statistics, so a cluster of 24 cases
is cause for alarm, officials said. Although the condition often resolves on its own, recovery can be long and painful. And in rare cases, the illness
can cause permanent disability and even death.
