ORLANDO, Fla. — At least six people in Florida have died in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday called “one of the worst outbreaks of meningococcal disease among gay and bisexual men in U.S. history,” with state and health officials and LGBTQ+ groups scrambling to alert the public about the deadly disease.
As of Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health has recorded 10 deaths and 44 cases in 2022, more than double the annual average over the last five years: 13 of those were in Orange County, three in Seminole, three in Lake and one in Osceola. At least 26 of those cases and six of the deaths have been linked back to the outbreak, CDC spokesperson Bert Kelly said. Typically, only about 2% to 3% of cases are due to outbreaks, the CDC says.
Meningococcal disease can lead to a bloodstream infection or meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. More than 1 out of 10 people who catch the disease will die, even with treatment, and as many as 1 in 5 may face complications such as brain damage or limb loss, the CDC says on its website.
