Lewis-Gale Medical Center is treating a male patient for bacterial meningitis, a spokeswoman for the hospital said Tuesday.

The patient was admitted Thursday night, hospital spokeswoman Nancy May said.

Citing privacy laws, May would not release the man's name, age or medical condition. To report more would require the permission of the patient or his family, she said.

The Virginia Department of Health was notified of the case Saturday, department spokesman Robert Parker said.

The department confirmed that the patient has an invasive meningococcal infection, which means that bacteria from the throat have traveled to another part of the body.

The health department is not saying where the bacteria traveled or what illness it caused, Parker said.

A meningococcal infection can lead to meningitis, according to the department's Web site.

The department does not consider the infection a risk to the public, Parker said.

People who may have been exposed to the infection were directed to appropriate medical treatment, which in some cases is antibiotics, Parker said.

Meningococcal infections are spread through close contact, such as kissing, or sharing cigarettes or table utensils.

Bacterial meningitis can be both contagious and life-threatening. Viral meningitis is more common and typically less serious.

Health care workers involved in the patient's treatment are wearing protective gear and working in a room where airflow is controlled carefully, May said.

Hospital staff who may have had contact with the patient before he was diagnosed have received precautionary doses of antibiotics, she said.

There have been 14 cases of meningococcal infections in Virginia this year, but this is the first in Roanoke, Parker said.