the illnesses started with common flulike symptoms shortness of breath a cough and a fever the five patients who are still living seem to be getting better mcintyre said its not yet clear whether either flu played a role in this cluster of illnesses the document states one of the patients tested positive for h1n1 the swine flu that began in spring 2009 and peaked the following october according to a health department document the patients ages range from their mid20s to their late 80s dr mary mcintyre who is leading the investigation told abcnewscom in an email the first three cases were reported to the health department on may 16 because the patients were on ventilators but had no known cause for their illnesses according to a health department document health officials will also question the patients families and friends to determine common exposures and whether the patients ever had contact with one another location aside mcintyre said the patients had no commonalities other than that the majority of them had comorbidities like smoking copd morbid obesity good science will tell you whether it is the most recent case was reported may 19 related frenchman infected with sarslike virus when people get sick close together in time it can make it look like an outbreak is occurring said dr richard besser chief health and medical editor for abc news but both patients who died had come down with pneumonia mcintyre said related bird flu crosses strait to taiwan besser said most pneumonia patients are never tested to determine what caused their infection but the centers for disease control and prevention could offer state of the art diagnostic testing to explain the alabama cases may 23 2013151 a mystery illness has sickened seven people in southeastern alabama killing two of them according to the state health department but its not clear whether the patients or their symptoms are connected one of them was released tuesday at this time there is no epidemiological link between these patients an alabama health department document states in bold type another patient tested for a strain of influenza called ah3