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Meningitis toll continues to rise in Michigan

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Michigan health officials are reporting seven more infections linked to contaminated steroids supplied by a Massachusetts pharmaceutical company. 

The Michigan Department of Community Health said Monday that at least 256 people have contracted illnesses including fungal meningitis that are part of a national disease outbreak. That's up from 249 two weeks earlier.

The total includes three Michigan residents treated in Indiana and listed in that state's count.

The Michigan agency says 16 people have died in the outbreak.

It reports 68 cases of fungal meningitis, 161 epidural abscesses, one stroke and 26 peripheral joint infections in Michigan tied to the steroids. They're injected to treat neck and back pain.

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.