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Sudden death sparks inquiry
Pearl Simmons, 42, a community education specialist at Children's Hospital in Oakland, died at 11:24 a.m. at Allegheny General Hospital, North Side, where she was taken earlier in the day, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Coroner's Office said.
"The coroner has asked us to do some studies to make sure there are no infectious disease, including West Nile," said Dr. Bruce Dixon, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.
Guillermo Cole, public information officer for the health department, stressed: "We don't have any reason to consider one possible cause (of death) or another. It's a very open-ended question. We really don't know what caused it."
Tests have determined that more than a dozen birds in the county have died of West Nile virus, including one at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. There have been no confirmed cases of Allegheny County residents contracting the disease, Cole said.
An autopsy yesterday was inconclusive. Blood and spinal fluid samples will be sent for testing to the state Department of Health laboratory near Harrisburg.
Dixon, who explained that the county does not have the facilities to test for West Nile and some other diseases, said he will ask that the studies be expedited, but the results likely won't be available until early next week.
He said his office was asked to help investigate because the death involved someone who succumbed rapidly to some type of unexplained illness.
"They want us to see whether or not an infectious disease is responsible for this individual's death," Dixon said.
Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht could not be reached for comment.
Investigators said Simmons, who had no previous history of medical problems, went camping over the weekend. It is not known where she went camping or when she first became ill.
While in the hospital yesterday, Simmons died after going into cardiac arrest and septic shock.
A man who answered the telephone at the Simmons residence last night said family members were too distraught to talk.
Simmons is survived by her husband, Reid, a professor in the robotics department at Carnegie Mellon University; and three children.
West Nile is spread to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes, Cole said. Most people exposed to the virus do not get sick. Those at highest risk are the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, he said.
Cole said that less than 1 percent develop the serious illness known as West Nile encephalitis, which is an inflammation of the brain. The symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash and swollen lymph glands.
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved the first national trial of a drug to treat West Nile, which has spread across half the country. The testing of alpha-interferon will begin immediately at New York Hospital Queens, in the borough where virus was first found in the country three years ago.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 269 suspected cases this year. The CDC also said the virus has been blamed for 13 deaths in five states this year: Illinois (1), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (2) and Texas (1).
Cole said six more birds — three blue jays, two crows and an owl — have tested positive for West Nile in Allegheny County. The blue jays were found in Castle Shannon-Mt. Lebanon area, Highland Park and Penn Hills; the crows in the Hill District and Squirrel Hill; and an owl in Highland Park.
Zoo spokeswoman Connie George confirmed that the owl was housed at the zoo.
The CDC said there are no cases of the disease being spread from animal to humans or from one animal to another.
Seven birds previously tested positive in the county: crows in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Highland Park; blue jays in Squirrel Hill, Mt. Washington and Aspinwall; and a hawk in O'Hara Township.
Confirmed cases of West Nile were found for the first time yesterday in birds in Armstrong, Butler and Clarion counties.
The state Department of Health also announced yesterday that more infected birds have been found in Centre, Clearfield, Fayette, Mercer and Westmoreland counties.
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