---
title: "Terrifying Vape Disease Has Now Killed Five People"
description: "Three more health departments have announced vape-related deaths, bringing the total death tally of the mysterious lung disease up to five people."
date: "2019-09-09"
modified: "2019-09-09"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/terrifying-vape-disease-killed-five-people"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "medicine"
  - "vaping"
---

# Terrifying Vape Disease Has Now Killed Five People

![Three more health departments have announced vape-related deaths, bringing the total death tally of the mysterious lung disease up to five people.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/vape-disease-killed-five-people.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

Since Friday, three more people in the United States appear to have died from a mysterious lung disease associated with vaping.

On Friday, the health departments of Indiana and Minnesota each announced that someone had died of vaping-related illness, *[The New York Times ](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/health/third-death-vaping-related-disease.html>)*[reports](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/health/third-death-vaping-related-disease.html>), and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating a death in which "vaping is a probable potential cause."

With these newly-announced deaths, the government is treating the "vape lung" mystery as a full-on public health issue instead of a series of isolated incidents.

And with two [previously-disclosed deaths](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/vaping-sickness-kills-second-person>) over [recent weeks](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/first-death-vaping-sickness>), that brings the total death toll up to five people. Scientists have found [some potential leads](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/chemical-causing-vaping-disease>) into what's causing vape lung, but the investigations are still in progress — and officials are urging you to put down the vape, at least until it's all sorted out.

"While this investigation is ongoing, people should consider not using e-cigarette products," Dana Meaney-Delman, the doctor in charge of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's investigation, told the *NYT*.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)