Washington, Oct 3 (AFP) The number of patients suffering from probable lung injury cases associated with e-cigarette use has surged to 1,080, US health authorities said on Thursday.

The death toll from the outbreak now stands at 18, they said.

"The increase of 275 cases since last week is a combination of new patients becoming ill in the past two weeks and recent reporting of previously-identified patients," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)