Tiffany Faulkner

 

As part of the University of New Mexico's pharmaceutical research initiative, Tiffany spent the summer of 2014 in Brazil.  Most of her time was spent either travelling to villages and asking about diseases endemic to the area, or local remedies for common ailments.  She would also analyze plant tissues other students had collected.  Over the summer she was bit constantly by insects, and the natives identified some of the bites as being from kissing bugs.  On August 25th, four days after she returned home she began to feel ill.  That same day she was admitted to the University Hospital, and given fluids and IV antibiotics.  Blood tests identified an unknown agent.  The next day she slipped into a coma, and IV antiviral agents and steroids proved to be unsuccesful.  On August 27th she succumbed to the unidentified pathogen.