Eau Claire County health leaders say there's a confirmed case of meningitis in the Chippewa Valley.

City-County Health Director Richard Thoune says preliminary test results show a man who was stopped by police early Saturday morning has meningitis.

Eau Claire Police say it seemed like a normal patrol of Water Street around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, until they spotted something a little out of the ordinary.

"Officers observed a vehicle, a small SUV, driving westbound on the sidewalk at 300 Water Street," said Eau Claire Police Sergeant Randy Fahrenkrog.

Sergeant Randy Fahrenkrog says the Suzuki SUV crossed Fourth Avenue and continued onto the 400-block of Water, before swerving into some open parking spaces and driving back onto Water Street.

"Fortunately, it was a slow speed and people were able to get out of the way," Fahrenkrog said.

That's when officers stopped the man.

"That time of night, there's a lot of people around, there's a lot of intoxicated people around because it's getting close to bar closing," Fahrenkrog said.

But Fahrenkrog says officers quickly realized the man was suffering from a medical condition, and immediately called an ambulance.

He says the man was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital, where police say he's in critical condition.

"There's no arrest, no consideration of charges that I'm aware of," Fahrenkrog said. "There wasn't a criminal intent here, this was a medical condition and the subject obviously didn't know what he was doing."

City-County Health Director Richard Thoune says the hospital contacted the health department within an hour.

"What we can confirm based on preliminary lab results is it is meningococcal meningitis," Thoune said.

Thoune says the health department has identified 35 people who may have had close contact with the man, and recommended antibiotic treatments for 21 of them.

"Sharing of beverage containers, kissing, sharing cigarettes - those are the things we're looking for," Thoune said. "In addition, if people feel they had close contact with nasal secretions, mucus, that would also be considered close contact."

Thoune says the health department has wrapped up its investigation into who may have been exposed to meningitis, and has contacted everyone it believes is affected.

But neither the police department nor the health department will release the man's name, or his age.

However, Thoune says the man works on Water Street.

"It doesn't represent a broad threat to the community, and we believe we have taken appropriate action to protect those who've had close contact," Thoune said.