The death toll from an American meningitis outbreak linked to tainted medication climbed to 11 on Tuesday, according to US officials, who warned the strain of the disease had hit 119 people.
Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said as many as 13,000 people might have received doses of potentially contaminated steroid injection which led to an outbreak of the rare fungal infection.
Cases of the ailment have been reported in 10 US states.
Among the hardest hit are Tennessee with 39 cases, Michigan with 25, and Virginia with 24. Florida, Maryland and Minnesota, New Jersey, Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio also reported cases.
Meningitis inflames protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
The disease often goes undetected until it is too late because its flu-like symptoms can be mild at first.
Treatment requires a hospital stay and intravenous anti-fungal medications.
US health officials suspect a fungal contaminant in a sealed vial of the drug produced by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts as the cause of the outbreak, and have launched a multi-state investigation.
The company that produced the steroids has issued a voluntary recall of all of its products and shut down all operations.
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