Amid Ebola preparation, an EV-D68 outbreak
December 2014—In addition to preparing for Ebola patients, many clinical laboratories and hospitals in recent months faced outbreaks of respiratory illness caused by enterovirus D68 among children. “EV-D68 infections may be associated with severe acute respiratory illness, viral pneumonia, and severe reactive airway disease,” says Susan Novak, PhD, D(ABMM), director of microbiology at Kaiser Permanente Regional Reference Laboratories in Southern California. Focal limb weakness has also been reported as possibly related to EV-D68, she adds.