Meningitis Outbreak: Death Toll Hits 20
The 20th death and 18 new cases top the CDC's Thursday update on the fungal meningitis outbreak linked to a contaminated steroid from the New England Compounding Center (NECC).
Also, New York state reported its first confirmed case in the outbreak, and an additional case of peripheral joint infection was confirmed. The nationwide total has now grown to 257 cases in 16 states -- mostly meningitis cases, but also three peripheral joint infections.
The new death came from Michigan, which also reported additional cases along with Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee.
The CDC also confirmed that the fungus Exserohilum rostratum is the culprit behind the outbreak.
The FDA obtained the fungus from unopened vials of one lot of the suspect steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, that the agency took from the compounding center, which is in Framingham, Mass. CDC experts grew the fungus and confirmed it was Exserohilum, agency spokesman Curtis Allen told MedPage Today.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/35417?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-news
= new reply since forum marked as read
isn't that what repukes champion? No oversight needed. 
