UPDATE 1-25-2012 10:30 p.m.

The Leon County Health Department says they believe that no other residents have contracted meningitis from the confirmed case in the county.

Dr. Homer Rice says the window of opportunity for the bacterial meningitis to infect someone else has all but passed.

"The most common time period is about four days," said Rice. "It can run four to 10 days. This has been more than a week since she's been diagnosed so we're feeling we're pretty safe."

Rice says that in the last 10 years in Leon County there have been 19 confirmed cases of meningitis. The most recent came back in 2009 with two different cases.

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UPDATE 1-25-2012

The State Lab confirmed neisseria meningitis in the 19-year-old female hospitalized last week with presumptive meningitis.

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The Leon County Health Department is investigating a presumptive case of meningitis involving a 19-year-old Florida State student.

Leon County Health Department spokeswoman Page Jolly says while the health department is pretty sure it's meningitis, it cannot say for sure until the final lab results come back. Jolly says the health department believes it is meningitis because at the time, the sample is acting like such.

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Tallahassee, Florida - January 20, 2012 -

A 19-year-old female from Florida State has contracted meningitis, according to Dr. Homer Rice with the Leon County Health Department. At this time, they are not sure what type of meningitis the student has. The female is currently in the ICU of an area hospital.

The student is in a sorority with 38 other female students. Those sorority members have been contacted by the health depart and administered antibiotics.

Meningitis is rare and Dr. Homer says that there have only been 19 cases in the last decade in Leon County.

The type of Meningitis that the student has contracted should be identified by next week.

According to the CDC, Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is also referred to as spinal meningitis.

Meningitis may develop in response to a number of causes, usually bacteria or viruses, but meningitis can also be caused by physical injury, cancer or certain drugs.

The severity of illness and the treatment for meningitis differ depending on the cause. Thus, it is important to know the specific cause of meningitis. For example, bacterial meningitis is usually more severe than viral, fungal, or parasitic meningitis. Although it can be very serious, bacterial meningitis can be treated with antibiotics that can prevent severe illness and reduce the spread of infection from person to person.