Five of the 12 workers from the Guyana Manganese Inc. (GMI), who fell ill while working at a mine in Matthews Ridge, Region One, have been diagnosed with histoplasmosis, Deputy Director of Medical Services at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr. David Samaroo yesterday disclosed.
Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by breathing in the spores of a fungus which is often found in bird and bat droppings
Samaroo explained that the diagnoses were made from results of samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) by the Ministry of Public Health. The results were returned yesterday morning, Samaroo said.
He explained that the illness is a respiratory one and is contracted by coming into contact with bat dung or bird dung and inhaling the spores.
Junior Public Health Minister, Dr. Karen Cummings, yesterday related to this newspaper that 10 Chinese nationals, including one who was diagnosed with Leptospirosis, were among the group flown back to China on Monday.
Their conditions, Dr. Samaroo related, have improved and they are stable.
Following reports of the illness, the Chinese government had requested that the men be flown back to their home country for medical care.
The two Guyanese who were also ill as a result of working in the mines were discharged, Cummings confirmed.
Two Saturdays ago, seven miners were air-dashed to the GPHC, where they were quarantined, after experiencing similar flu-like symptoms, which led to the death of a colleague, a Chinese national, at the Pakera Hospital in Matthews Ridge.
The miners reportedly fell ill during the course of the week and were admitted to the Pakera District Hospital with fever, headaches, joint pain, mild shortness of breath, unstable vital signs and moderate to severe respiratory syndrome. An additional six employees from the company were also air-dashed to the GPH in a move health officials described as a precaution.
The employees, five Chinese nationals and one Guyanese, who were exposed to the infectious area, were brought to the city after it was recommended that they seek medical attention. Following a battery of tests conducted on the first batch of hospitalised GMI employees, two were diagnosed with leptospirosis. One of the two employees, who were quarantined, succumbed at the GPH.
The two men who died were identified as 47-year-old Zhenglong Zong and 45-year-old Zengguo Ji. Both succumbed to septic shock and pneumonia.
Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, had reiterated that “all precautionary measures are still in place at the Matthews Ridge tunnel site and the immediate surroundings and essential medical supplies are in stock to treat employees of the mining firm”. He also emphasised that the mines remain a “Red Zone” and “no one is allowed to enter the site.”
The ministry, two Mondays ago in a statement, said that tests conducted on the first set of employees ruled out the Swine Flu strain of the H1N1 virus, as well as Zika, Chikungunya, Dengue, and Influenza A and B, as the cause of the illness that had befallen the miners.
However, it noted that two of the patients had tested positive for Leptospirosis.
Tunnels at the mines had been closed since 1961 and were reopened on March 19, this newspaper was told. A total of 15 GMI employees were working in the area at the time.
