Charlotte Sun (Port Charlotte, FL)

November 17, 2007

PORT CHARLOTTE -- The Charlotte County Medical Examiner's office is expected to perform an autopsy on the body of a young Port Charlotte man whose cause of death is unknown. Matthew Rosario Lalicata, 21, was seemingly healthy until he came down with flu-like symptoms that lasted a week. He died Friday morning.

The investigation should reveal whether Lalicata's death was due to an illness that could pose a public health risk.

"As with any type of case like this, an infectious cause must be ruled out," said Sharleen Traynor, an epidemiologist with the Charlotte County Health Department. "We look at the exposure history and risk factors to determine if the individual was doing something that exposed him."

Lalicata was a 2004 graduate of Port Charlotte High School. He loved new wave music, Chevy trucks and, above all, motorcycles, said his mother, Sharon Lalicata. He worked at a motorcycle shop in Fort Myers and tinkered on bikes with his father. He lived at home with his parents and younger sister. He also had an older sister.

"He would do anything for anyone," Sharon said. "He was one of the most caring, loving persons you'd ever want to meet."

Lalicata was generally a healthy person, Sharon said. First, his father, Mike, caught a cold, from which he recovered. Lalicata got sick next and couldn't seem to shake it. He had a runny nose, upset stomach and sore throat.

"He'd do really good and he'd get a relapse," Sharon said. "He was stubborn. He didn't want to go to the hospital."

Lalicata went to bed around 9 p.m. Thursday, his mother said. At 11:30 p.m. he woke up with a swollen throat and had difficulty breathing. He and Sharon had just started driving to a hospital when he told her to stop the car after about a block, she said; he got out and collapsed. A Charlotte County Sheriff's deputy responded to Lakeworth Boulevard and Mundella Circle at about 12:30 a.m. and performed CPR on Lalicata until emergency medical services could arrive. Lalicata was taken by ambulance to Peace River Regional Medical Center and died shortly after 9 a.m., Sharon said.

Traynor said the case seems to be an isolated incident

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Swanny note:  There is a mutated cold virus , most likely engineered in a war factory dealing with biological warfare...that is my OPINION after seeing this news video I have posted below