CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming health officials say bacterial meningitis contracted by an elementary-school student isn’t a public health threat.
The fourth-grader was hospitalized with the illness. As a precaution, officials last week closed the elementary and high schools in Hanna as well as the elementary schools in Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow.
Meningitis is an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The Wyoming Department of Health announced Monday the infection was caused by pneumococcus bacteria, which more typically causes ear and sinus infections.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Alexia Harrist says the form of meningitis is not considered contagious and there’s no need for the case to worry families in Carbon County.
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