OAN Staff Avril Elfi
Saturday, August 31, 2024 1:45 PM
Two people have died in New Jersey after contracting West Nile Virus (WNV), as death tolls rise across the United States.
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The New Jersey Department of Health said in a statement Friday that six more cases of West Nile virus infection have been reported, including two deaths.
The two new deaths follow two WNV-related deaths in Wisconsin and one in Illinois, bringing the U.S. death toll to five.
In 2024, a total of 289 cases of West Nile virus infection were reported to the CDC across 33 states, with 195 of those cases being neuroinvasive, meaning the virus invades the brain or nervous system.
The virus can cause complications such as cerebral edema, brain damage, and even death.
West Nile virus was first reported in the United States in 1999 in New York, and since then the virus has gradually spread across the country.
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