An adenovirus epidemic claims the ninth child in a New Jersey facility

A ninth child died in a pediatric rehabilitation center in New Jersey, following an outbreak of respiratory virus, officials said Sunday.

The New Jersey Department of Health said in a press release that "another fragile medical child," who had a confirmed case of adenovirus at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, had died Saturday night. The child became ill before 22 October, officials said.

"It's a tragic situation and our thoughts are with the families who are in mourning right now," said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, New Jersey Health Commissioner, in a statement. "We work every day to ensure that all infection control protocols are continuously monitored and closely monitor the situation in the facility."

The new diagnosis brings to 25 the total number of cases in the facility. A school staff member also became ill as a result of the outbreak, but has since recovered. According to a report from the NJDOH, lab results did not confirm the death Friday of another medically fragile resident.

The disease, identified as adenovirus 7, is the most important risk for patients with weakened immune systems or who already have respiratory or cardiac disease. According to the CDC, the virus causes a wide range of diseases, including colds, sore throats, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, pink eyes, fever, bladder infections, stomach inflammation. and neurological diseases.

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The most recent date of onset of the disease was October 22nd. It is thought that sick people became sick between September 26th and October 22nd. Children affected in the facility's pediatric ventilation unit had a severely compromised immune system, including respiratory problems, before the outbreak began, according to the agency.

"As part of an ongoing effort to ensure adherence to all infection control measures, we are taking additional steps to monitor residents and staff for any sign of infectious disease," he said. Elnahal. "Not all viruses are adenoviruses, often people get sick for many reasons, especially those medically fragile children who have respiratory problems as part of their underlying medical conditions."

Since then, the facility has stopped admitting new residents as the epidemic continues. The outbreak will not be declared over until the center has been infected for four weeks.

The state health department sent a team of investigators to the establishment to determine the cause of the outbreak. The CDC is also investigating the epidemic.

Alexandria Hein and Katherine Lam of Fox News contributed to this report.