7th child dead in viral outbreak in NJ

NEW JERSEY (FOX5NY.COM) - A seventh child has died in a viral outbreak at a nursing facility in northern New Jersey.  The state Department of Health announced the latest fatality on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Health Department stated:  "The New Jersey Department of Health learned last night that unfortunately another child who was hospitalized due to adenovirus passed away yesterday. The young child’s death was the seventh death associated with the outbreak at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. The child’s death is among 18 confirmed cases of adenovirus among medically fragile children at the facility. The strain of adenovirus seen in this outbreak is associated with communal living arrangements and known to cause severe illness."

A day earlier, state health officials confirmed the outbreak of cases of adenovirus at the center in Haskell in Passaic County.

"The facility has been instructed not to admit any new patients until the outbreak ends and they are in full compliance," the Health Department said in a statement.

Adenoviruses usually cause mild illnesses but this outbreak affected medically fragile children with severely compromised immune systems.

Adenoviruses can cause a wide range of illnesses such as common cold, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, pink eye, fever, bladder inflammation or infection, stomach and intestine inflammation, and neurologic disease, according to the CDC.

An infected person can spread an adenovirus by close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands, through the air by coughing and sneezing, and by leaving the virus on objects that others then touch, the CDC said.