SHOREWOOD — A Shorewood family that tested positive for coronavirus is now being studied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, known as the CDC.
Three members of the Muirhead family are still recovering from coronavirus, but given their early detection in the state, the CDC is using them to learn how the virus spreads among family and whether a new self-swab test is effective.
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"We have been feeling really well for probably the past week," said Jackie Muirhead.
Jackie, her husband, and daughter all tested positive for coronavirus a couple of weeks ago.
"I'm dealing with partial loss of smell and taste, which is coming out as a newer symptom of the COVID-19," Jackie said.
To Jackie's surprise, the CDC requested to come to her home to learn more about how the virus spreads. The Muirheads welcomed scientists inside their house this week for all sorts of tests.
"Ideally, from our study, they'll learn how germs are transmitted in a house and also ideally come out with ways to make tests more available to everybody," Jackie said.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Friday afternoon that Wisconsin is one of just three states in which CDC representatives are visiting to study COVID-19.
Jackie said the standard coronavirus nose and mouth swab she received from her doctor was incredibly uncomfortable.
"It feels like it goes all the way up to your brain," she said. "It tickles, and it makes you gag and sneeze, and a tear comes out."
Jackie and her family were some of the first to try a self-swab test that the CDC hopes will one day become available nationwide.
"This one that we did was much more comfortable," Jackie said. "It was almost Q-tip like. The other one was very skinny and very long. They really shoved it up high, whereas this one, they just had to have it 3/4 of an inch to an inch in your nose, and it was done. "
The Muirheads say they will continue to provide daily updates to health officials and the CDC on their progress. They hope the self-swab test proves to be effective so the test can become widely administered.