The Western Washington University junior was brought to the school clinic by his roommate on February 14, 2008. He was later admitted to St. Joseph Hospital, but the aggressive MRSA infection had spread to his respiratory system and did not respond to massive doses of antibiotics, the Associated Press reported. Feden died on February 20.

Whatcom County health officials believe that this is an isolated case of MRSA, and not part of a larger staph infection outbreak. Western Washington University has posted a MRSA information bulletin to educate the community about CA-MRSA, the community-acquired form of the infection.