Illness Reports Investigated : Health Data Requested in Coto de Caza

Orange County health officials sent out a questionnaire Monday asking people in the posh, backcountry Coto de Caza development to keep a diary of their health problems in a continuing effort to monitor reports of a mysterious illness there.

For about a year, some of the 800 residents and employees of Coto de Caza have complained of dizziness, headaches, fatigue and rapid heartbeat, according to Dr. Thomas Prendergast, the county’s epidemiologist. So far, however, county health officials have not determined the cause of the complaints or whether they are related, Prendergast said.

Set in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains, Coto de Caza (Portuguese for “preserve of the hunt”) is a prestigious, 5,000-acre residential development, consisting of mostly custom homes costing from $250,000 to several million dollars. Complaints of a strange illness have not affected sales, real estate salesman Tom Hosper said Monday.

Because complaints persisted, Prendergast recently sent out a questionnaire asking residents to record their symptoms. Air quality and state Department of Fish and Game officials also have been monitoring the area for clues to the reported illness. In a questionnaire three months ago, about 40 of 274 respondents complained of similar health problems, Prendergast said.

Now, the epidemiologist is trying to discover whether the same health problems occur on the same day or same week, or if they might be related to dust raised by new construction in the area. Prendergast’s letter on Monday asked residents to keep a daily diary of all unusual health symptoms.

But he cautioned that health officials still do not know if a health problem exists in the dry hills surrounding Coto de Caza, adding that he will be monitoring the reports for several more months.

“It isn’t clear that there is a mysterious illness,” Prendergast said. “It isn’t clear if they’ve got the same thing or if it’s something in the environment. . . . But when people do talk to each other, there’s a sense that they are talking about the same thing.”

“We are asking them for more ongoing, diary-type data about when they aren’t well,” Prendergast said.

Real estate salesman Hosper, who also lives in Coto de Caza, said he had filled out the last questionnaire and wasn’t worried. “I feel perfectly healthy,” he said. “I’m sure there are some people who are sick, but there are people sick in every community.”