Meningitis outbreak: CDC reports 233 infections
Investigators find a third type of mold in vials
1:57 PM, Oct 16, 2012
A third type of mold has been found in unopened vials produced by a compounding lab linked to a national outbreak of fungal infections that now stands at 233 cases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
That number compares to 214 on Monday. All but two of the infections are fungal meningitis. The nationwide death count did not rise. In Tennessee, illnesses increased to 59, but the death count stayed at six.
The third mold is Cladosporium, which CDC officials described as a black mold similar to the dominant one, Exserohilum. Exserohilum has been confirmed in 26 cases. A third mold, Aspergillus, was detected in one patient. The vials came from New England Compounding Center’s Framingham, Mass., facility.
The number of confirmations for mold types is fewer than the number of people sickened because of the time it takes for grow a mold sample.
