JOPLIN, Mo. —
Investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have increased the number of confirmed zygomycosis fungal cases in Joplin from nine to 12.
Kristen Nordlund, a spokeswoman for the federal agency, said Friday that the cases have been confirmed by the CDC labs in Atlanta.
Other details about the CDC probe into the rare fungal cases were not available Friday, but Nordlund said additional information is expected next week.
The CDC is taking a closer look at the cluster of fungal infections that developed among severely injured victims of the May 22 tornado. The investigators arrived in Missouri on Tuesday in response to a request for help in the investigation by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The CDC has sent four employees and two epidemiologists to Joplin. The team will be in Joplin for two weeks.
Nordlund said the team will gather information on suspected cases, as well as conduct a case-control study. In the study, people who have contracted the fungus will be compared with those who have not contracted the fungus to determine if there are any risk factors associated with contracting the fungus.
Freeman has seen at least five cases of the fast-growing fungal infection. It is believed to have contributed to the deaths of three people there and one at St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield.
The rare infection, zygomycosis, can have a fatality rate of 50 percent.
The spores can infect people with traumatic injuries, but the fungal infections are rare in healthy people, and clusters of them are even more uncommon.
Deep skin fungal infection does not spread from human to human. No cases have been attributed to air, food or water.
To date, no cases of the fungus have been reported among workers in the damage zone.
Tornado death toll
The death toll from the May 22 Joplin tornado has increased by one to 154. James V. “Jim” Cookerly, 49, was added to the official list of fatalities on Friday, according to Lynn Onstot, with the city of Joplin. Cookerly died Tuesday. He was among those afflicted by the zygomycosis fungus, authorities said. Memorial services for Cookerly will be at 1 p.m. today at Fir Road Christian Church.
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