OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:45 PM – Saturday, August 31, 2024

Two people have died in New Jersey after contracting the West Nile virus (WNV) as the death toll across the United States rises.

On Friday, the New Jersey Department of Health released a statement disclosing an additional six West Nile virus cases, including two deaths.

The two new deaths come after two WNV-related fatalities in Wisconsin, and one in Illinois, rising the death toll in the U.S. to 5.

In total, 289 West Nile cases in 33 states have been reported to the CDC for 2024; 195 of those cases are neuroinvasive, meaning the virus enters the brain and nervous system. 

Complications like brain edema, brain damage, or even death may result from the virus.

In 1999, New York saw the first American report of the West Nile virus and it has progressively extended throughout the nation since.

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