The New England Compounding Center is shown here on October 5, 2012 in Framingham, Massachusetts. The pharmacy is currently being investigated for producing a contaminated steroid shot that included the meningitis fungus that has killed at least five people. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
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CHICAGO (AP) – An ill Chicago resident is the first person in Illinois to be linked to the fungal meningitis outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the case Saturday.
Melaney Arnold with the Illinois Department of Public Health referred to it as a “probable” case and said authorities were still waiting on laboratory confirmation.
She said the person received an epidural injection from one of the lots recalled by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts and is showing signs of meningitis.
The drug has sickened about 200 people in 13 states, killing 15.
About 17,000 vials of a steroid used for pain relief were recalled after investigators found three lots were contaminated by a fungus that can cause meningitis and strokes.
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