WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. death toll from fungal meningitis linked to potentially contaminated steroid injections has risen to 23 with one new death each reported in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.

States reported 13 new cases of fungal meningitis, raising the total to 281, the CDC said. There are also three peripheral infections in the outbreak caused by injections into joints.

The outbreak stems from medications shipped by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. The company faces federal and state investigations and lawsuits over the tainted medications.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Eric Becch)