Fort Collins authorities are investigating the relationship of three confirmed cases of meningococcal disease, a potentially fatal infection that killed a 20-year-old man on Monday.
Tests from a fourth case are pending. All four have occured in Fort Collins in the past two weeks.
“It’s so rare in Larimer County that many years we don’t have any cases, and in years we do it’s usually just one,” said Jane Viste, a spokeswoman for the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.
“And now we have the possibility of four cases in two weeks.”
She said she could not name the person who died. None of the cases so far have involved relatives or obvious relationship.
Meningococcal disease is a severe infection caused by a throat bacteria found in about 15 percent of people, according to the health department.
When the bacteria causes disease, however, it can cause rapid death in 10 percent of cases, typically appearing as an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord or as a blood infection that spreads rapidly.
