1 dead, 1 ill with meningitis at Fort Leonard Wood

1 dead, 1 ill with meningitis at Leonard Wood
By Jim Salter - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 16, 2009 15:07:21 EST

ST. LOUIS — Meningitis cases at Fort Leonard Wood have left a soldier dead and another “very seriously ill,” according to officials at the southern Missouri Army base.

Fort Leonard Wood officials announced the meningitis cases in a news release Sunday. Few details were released, including names of either victim. Calls on Monday to a media spokesman at the base were not returned.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of the spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. It kills about 300 people in the U.S. each year.

At Fort Leonard Wood, both illnesses involved noncontagious forms of meningitis, authorities said. The two soldiers were members of the same unit, but no connection has been found between the cases.

“Although difficult to comprehend, all clinical data show these cases are unrelated and purely coincidental,” Lt. Col. John Lowery, deputy commander for clinical services at Fort Leonard Wood, said in a written statement.

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UPDATE

2nd soldier at Leonard Wood dies of meningitis

By Jim Salter - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 17, 2009 15:57:26 EST

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — A second soldier stationed at the Army’s Fort Leonard Wood has died of meningitis, officials said Tuesday.

Leonard Wood officials said Pvt. Randy Stabnick, 28, of South Bend, Ind., died Tuesday at a hospital in Springfield.

Another soldier from the base died Feb. 9. His name has not been released.

“The soldiers and their families continue to be in our prayers today,” Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin, commanding general of Maneuver Support Center and Fort Leonard Wood, said in a statement.

Base officials said both soldiers had a non-contagious form of meningitis.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_meningitis_leonard_wood_021709/