The death toll from fungal meningitis linked to potentially contaminated steroid injections has risen by two to 23, with North Carolina reporting its first death, health officials said on Saturday, Reuters reported. Tennessee's death total in the outbreak rose to eight, the highest state total, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website. States reported 13 new cases of fungal meningitis, raising the total to 281. The outbreak stems from medications shipped by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. The company faces federal and state investigations and lawsuits over the tainted medications.
