NJ Reports 1st West Nile Death Of 2010
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- State health officials are reporting New Jersey's first death this year of a patient who tested positive for the West Nile virus.
The Department of Health and Senior Services said Thursday that a 76-year-old Camden County man died last month.
Officials said he had underlying medical conditions. His identity was not released.
To date, 11 New Jersey residents in seven counties have tested positive this year, including the man who died.
His is the first West Nile-related death in New Jersey since 2008, when two people died.
New Jersey reported only three confirmed cases of West Nile virus last year. The highest number of cases was in 2003, when 34 people tested positive.
The virus is transmitted by a bite from a mosquito that has fed on an infected bird.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
