TOPEKA ? Health officials are investigating a central Kansas man’s death from a virulent form of meningitis.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a news release that laboratory tests have confirmed that the death was the result of meningococcal meningitis, an acute infection of the bloodstream caused by a bacteria known as Neisseria meningitides.

Health officials are working to identify people exposed to the man, who was from Barton County. The bacteria can be spread through close contact — such as sharing a drinking glass, kissing or living in close quarters — with an infected person.

Symptoms include fever, intense headache and stiff neck.