No fungal meningitis cases in Minnesota, but 25 steroid patients evaluated

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- About 25 Minnesotans who were injected with a steroid from a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy are being evaluated for fungal meningitis in an outbreak that has killed five and sickened 30 in six states, Minnesota's top disease investigator said Friday.

State epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield said the number of those being evaluated is likely to fluctuate as health officials and a group of Minnesota pain clinics track down about 700 patients who received spinal injections of the steroid that's linked to the outbreak.

Lynfield said it's difficult to know how many could be affected because the form of meningitis is rare and the outbreak is still developing.

"We're having a very low threshold to have people evaluated," Lynfield said.

Two Minnesota clinic chains used the now-recalled product -- Medical Advanced Pain Specialists in Edina, Fridley, Shakopee and Maple Grove; and the Minnesota Surgery Center in Edina and Maple Grove.

"There's a massive effort to contact all the patients," said Marsha Thiel, the chief executive officer of MAPS, which owns the Minnesota Surgery Center c



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