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Fla. health officials: 3 more cases of meningitis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida health officials have confirmed three more cases of meningitis, bringing the total number in the state to 22 cases.

The Florida Department of Health announced Wednesday the additional cases of fungal meningitis from a tainted steroid shot. The cases include a 60-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman from Escambia County, and a 50-year-old man in Marion County.

The nationwide outbreak of this rare disease is linked to patients seeking pain relief received contaminated steroid injections.

The injections all came from contaminated lots of steroids made by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. An investigation of how the medicine became tainted is underway.

Three people in Florida have died from fungal meningitis after receiving the shots. Nationwide, 308 people have contracted meningitis in 17 states.