Meningitis hits 19 states

Nineteen US states have now been affected by a deadly meningitis break.

Rhode Island became the latest state afflicted by the outbreak with the first case reported yesterday, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

Only four of the 23 states that received some of the medication have not reported cases of fungal meningitis, which has killed 25 people nationwide.

The four states that have not reported at least one case of meningitis are California, Nevada, West Virginia and Connecticut, the CDC said.

The total number of meningitis cases including the expansion to Rhode Island reached 347 nationwide yesterday, the CDC said, up 10 from the last report on Saturday.

There also are seven reported cases of infections after the tainted steroid was injected into a joint such as a knee, hip, shoulder or elbow, bringing the total number of infections to 354.

The steroid was supplied by the New England Compounding Centre of Massachusetts, which faces multiple investigations.

Health authorities have said its facility near Boston failed to make medications in sterile conditions.