Confirmed Fungal Meningitis Cases In MN Now At 7

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed there are now seven cases of fungal meningitis in the state.

The department hasn't released specifics about the new cases. On Monday, the fifth patient diagnosed with fungal meningitis was said to be a Minnesota woman in her 20s.

Health officials say more than 900 Minnesotans may have been exposed to the tainted steroids when they received spinal injections at Twin Cities pain clinics. At least 129 clinics received the tainted drugs from the New England Compounding Center.

The outbreak has sickened more than 200 people in 14 states, killing 15.

The NECC in Framingham, Mass., recalled about 17,000 vials of the steroid after investigators found three lots were contaminated by a fungus.

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