Minn. reports 9th fungal meningitis case

The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting the state's confirmed cases of fungal meningitis total 9 in a national outbreak tied to tainted steroids.

The eighth case is a Twin Cities man in his 60s who was diagnosed two weeks ago, but delayed treatment. State officials just found out about him.

Minnesota Department of Health epidemiologist Richard Danila says he may be the only one who "slipped through the cracks."

"He still had symptoms but they're not markedly worse than what he had. Which is good because some patients who delay treatment have not done well," Danila said.

The ninth case is a man in his 50s who was treated with the tainted drugs in Minneapolis but subsequently moved to Tennessee.

Danila said more cases may still be coming, since it takes about 42 days for symptoms to develop after an injection.

"So if we look here in Minnesota, the last time people would've been injected before the whole thing was announced was right around the end of September," Danila said. "So we still probably have another week or so before the risk is really going to start to drop off."

Danila said both men are recovering.

Around 985 patients associated with six pain and surgical clinics in Minnesota received injectable steroids linked to the fungal meningitis outbreak that were produced by the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass.

Nationally, the tainted steroids have been linked to 328 illnesses in 18 states, including 24 deaths as of Thursday. No deaths have been recorded so far in Minnesota.

(the Associated Press contributed to this report)