Girl Tested For Deadly Disease

Laboratory tests are expected to determine by the weekend whether a 12-year-old Idaho Falls girl is suffering from potentially deadly meningococcal bacteria.

The girl, a student at Emerson Elementary School, was admitted to an Idaho Falls hospital Thursday night and two hours later was sent by airplane to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Although tests are still being done to confirm the girl’s infection, the doctor who treated her at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center believes that the girl’s illness is caused by the bacteria. Her identity was not disclosed.