edical examiners and coroners (ME/Cs) have long been at the forefront of recognizing emerging
infectious diseases.1 One can identify the impact of ME/Cs
on recognizing unusual infectious disease deaths as far back
as 1934, when Dr Milton Halpern of New York City
identified 17 fatal cases of malaria in intravenous heroin
users, cases which were only recognized as being due to
malaria at autopsy by the medical examiner.2 Given the
rapidity with which many emerging infectious diseases
claim their victims, ME/Cs may be the first health care
professionals to encounter the patient and seek a diagnosis.
Working closely with health care providers, ME/Cs are a
valuable resource in identifying infectious diseases, recognizing risk factors for infection, and delineating the extent of
the threat posed.1,2 Building on their expertise as diagnosticians and past experience with other emergent infectious
diseases, ME/Cs will continue to be a valued link in the
chain needed to safeguard public health from existing and
emerging infectious disease threats, including Zika virus.
Many people picture violent deaths such as homicides and
suicides as the sole domain of medicolegal death investigation. However, many types of nonviolent deaths, including
unexplained deaths and sudden natural ones, not only are of
public health significance but also are required by statute in
most jurisdictions to be investigated by ME/Cs.3–5 Many of
these deaths are due to infectious processes, often making
the ME/C the first physician to identify fatal disease in a
particular patient. The key role of ME/Cs in identifying
emerging infectious diseases is particularly well illustrated in
the recognition of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the
southwestern United States. Previously recognized as a fatal
infection during the Korean War, with 121 US servicemen
dying from a ‘‘Hantaan’’ virus, the virus had not been
identified as a cause of death in the continental United
States until the spring of 1993.6 After performing the
autopsy of a young man who died suddenly while traveling
to his fiancee’s funeral, the attending forensic pathologist at ´
New Mexico’s centralized, statewide medical examiner’s
office noticed the similarity between his autopsy results and
those of his fianc´ee and another young woman who had
died a month before, from the same part of the state and
with the same symptoms of respiratory distress.2 She raised
the alarm with the state’s health department and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suspecting a
cluster of plague deaths; the resulting multiagency invest