Specialists uncover no new evidence in death

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Federal infectious disease specialists have found no evidence to contradict an earlier diagnosis of viral meningitis as the cause of death for Missouri football player Aaron O'Neal.

Boone County Medical Examiner Valerie Rao determined in August that O'Neal, a 19-year-old reserve linebacker, died of the viral illness after collapsing on Faurot Field during a preseason workout one month earlier. But Rao, leaving open the possibility that other factors contributed to O'Neal's sudden death, asked pathologists with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to examine brain tissue for a number of other viruses, including a strain linked to West Nile virus.

The results came back negative, according to a CDC pathology report provided by Rao to The Associated Press on Monday.

Rao said the CDC's findings, which she received earlier this month, make her even more confident that the earlier diagnosis was accurate. Other experts, including the chairman of the University of Missouri-Columbia's Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, have questioned Rao's diagnosis.

Rao also had a private lab in Salt Lake City examine O'Neal's tissues to determine whether exercise-induced kidney failure played a role in his death. That test also turned up negative.

"We wanted to do everything we needed to do, to turn every stone," she said Monday. "I'll keep looking."

The CDC scientist who supervises the agency's Unexplained Deaths Project drew a less definitive conclusion.

"The type of inflammation they saw could be consistent with viral meningitis," said Sarah Reagan, an epidemiologist. "But these changes were nonspecific. It could have been viral meningitis. But it could have been other things."

The same day Rao released her findings, Lonnie O'Neal filed a wrongful lawsuit against Missouri athletic director Mike Alden, head coach Gary Pinkel, team medical director Rex Sharp and 11 trainers and strength coaches. Deborah O'Neal, who is estranged from her husband, has since joined the lawsuit involving their late son.

The lawsuit accuses university officials of failing to recognize signs of medical distress that could have prevented the death of Aaron O'Neal.

Both Pinkel and Alden were out of town the day of the workout, which was classified as a voluntary session. NCAA rules prohibit head coaches and their assistants from attending such workouts, which are instead led by strength and conditioning coaches and monitored by trainers.

Rao's autopsy determined that swelling in O'Neal's brain affected his heart and caused him to lose his ability to breathe properly. Toxicology tests ruled out steroids, performance supplements, alcohol and other drugs as contributing factors.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the tissues and infection of the fluid covering the brain and spinal cord, and can be transmitted by viruses or bacteria. Signs of infection include fever, headaches, nausea and other flu-like symptoms. Viral meningitis is serious but rarely fatal, while the bacterial variety can quickly cause death or disability.

O'Neal was also a carrier of sickle cell trait, an inherited condition that primarily affects blacks and can lead to the blood disorder sickle cell anemia when both parents are carriers.

Pathology department chairman Douglas Anthony -- Rao's boss at her part-time university teaching job -- previously concluded that the sickle cell trait was a "contributing factor" in O'Neal's death along with lymphocytic meningitis.

He could not immediately be reached for comment Monday to discuss the CDC's findings.