From the Pine Grove Herald, August 5, 1976:
DISEASE FATAL TO TWO FROM WILLIAMSTOWN
WILLIAMSTOWN – John Ralph and James Dolan, both Williamstown natives, died approximately 24 hours apart last weekend from the mystery disease which has killed at least 24 American Legionnaires since the Legion’s state conference in Philadelphia.
The deaths have all been caused from the same apparent symptoms. Headache, nausea, chest pains and pulmonary convulsions were reported in most of the cases. In addition, a high fever, generally ranging from 105 to 107 degrees, has been reported in most of the cases. The reason for the fever, which appears uncontrollable by conventional antibiotics, is unknown.
According to Williamstown American Legion Commander R. Michael Dolan, there was a “dank smell” in the Legion’s hospitality rooms in one of the hotels used by the group in Philadelphia. The manager of the Holiday Inn Penn Center, 18th and Market Streets, when altered to the musty odor, reportedly sent a bellhop to the rooms to spray Glade Air Freshener.
Later, Dolan said, the group complained that the carpet in the hospitality rooms was wet. The manager said it was probably the air conditioning,” Dolan said. “He sent a repairman to the room, but it didn’t seem to help. The carpet kept getting wetter and wetter, until we had to move some guests whose feet were getting soaked.”
Dolan reported that he felt ill during the convention, but immediately began taking antibiotics he was carrying for a cold which had recently developed. Dolan had a precautionary X-Ray taken Monday which showed no problems. He also said he intended to have a blood test made to guard against the possibility of typhoid, which had been listed as the cause of death in some of the cases.
Dolan also said there were high piles of garbage around the hotels. Philadelphia municipal garbage workers are presently on strike.
“People were coughing and complaining at the hotel for the whole convention,” Dolan said. He said no one thought very much of it, relating the coughs and lowered resistance to the drinking and smoking common to conventions.
Dr. Leonard Bachman, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, has admitted that his department has little idea of what may have caused the deaths. Many experts attribute them to a viral infection, not communicable by eating or drinking. Whether the disease is contagious or not, however, was not determined. Blood and tissue samples are presently being analyzed from the dead.
Bachman said a solution to the disease could be found anytime from the end of this week to the end of August. According to Bachman, the disease is probably not any form of influenza, despite his earlier conviction that it was a strain of swine flu.
The mystery continues, with only occasional shreds of light coming out of the shadows. The only thing which is presently certain is that the disease is one which has probably never been diagnosed before, according to the Health Department officials.
The disease is now known for the severity of symptoms after the week or ten days necessary for gestation. Ralph was admitted to Holy Spirit Hospital in Harrisburg Friday coughing up blood and complaining of dizziness, while Dolan entered Pottsville Hospital the day before with nearly identical symptoms.
Both Ralph and Dolan were reported to be in good health before the attacks. Ralph was 41 and Dolan 39.
Referring to the two local deaths, Commander R. Michael Dolan commented: “There is definitely something wrong when two people who are so young and who come from the same small town die so near to each other.
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Obtained from Newspapers.com.
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