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TRENTON -- The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
announced today that a 60-year-old Yardville (Mercer County) woman
has become the seventh New Jersey resident infected with West Nile
virus.
The
woman was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania,
on August 24. Her inpatient clinical condition was characterized
by fever and neurological findings. The patient improved and was
discharged from the hospital on September 11 and is recovering at
home. She does not have a history of recent blood transfusions or
organ transplants.
TThe
New Jersey Public Health and Environmental Laboratories conducted
testing on patient samples and reported positive results late yesterday.
The
Yardville woman is the fourth Mercer County resident to test positive
this season. The other cases are from Hudson, Burlington and Cape
May counties.
"The
number of patients diagnosed with West Nile virus in New Jersey
this year is similar to the numbers reported in recent years, six
cases in 2000 and 12 in 2001," said New Jersey Department of
Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Clifton R. Lacy, M.D.
"County-based mosquito control efforts and residents' use of
appropriate protective measures to reduce the risk of mosquito bites
have resulted in less West Nile virus-related illness than other
parts of the country and no West Nile virus-related deaths.''
Residents
are advised to continue to protect themselves from infection until
the weather changes and frost appears.
For more information on West Nile virus, visit the state's home
page at www.state.nj.us/health and click
on "West Nile virus.''
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