Potential For West Nile Virus High In Gloucester County

The potential to get infected with West Nile Virus in Gloucester County is second only to Bergen County in New Jersey, according to the state Department of Health.

Of the 547 mosquito pools tested for West Nile Virus in 2017, 103 tested positive for the disease, the second most in New Jersey, numbers from the DOH show. Bergen County led the state with 125. Union County was third with 100.

The potential for the virus to spread throughout the state rose sharply last year. In 2017, 861 out of 10,481 mosquito pools submitted for testing were positive for West Nile Virus. The number of positive pools is 93 percent higher than the total number of positive pools reported in 2016, according to the DOH.

The numbers for Lyme Disease painted a better picture for Gloucester County. In 2015, the most recent year numbers are available, there were 128 cases reported, 15th among New Jersey's 21 counties. Morris County had the most cases reported with 572.

Nine new germs spread by mosquitoes and ticks – including one dangerous disease that's appeared in New Jersey – were discovered or introduced into the United States during this time, according to a CDC release.

On top of that, a rare, potentially deadly tick-borne disease infected four people in New Jersey last year and health officials say it could be worse than Lyme disease. Four such cases appeared in 2017.

Here is where the West Nile Virus positive pools were most prevalent throughout the state:

Here are the reported county-by-county cases for Lyme Disease for 2015, reported by the Lyme Disease Association:

1. Morris 572
2. Monmouth 530
3. Hunterdon 457
4. Sussex 309
5. Ocean 290
6. Middlesex 288
7. Bergen 275
8. Warren 269
9. Burlington 258 tie
10. Somerset 258 tie
11. Mercer 249
12. Passaic 244
13. Essex 165
14. Camden 138
15. Gloucester 128
16. Atlantic 114
17. Union 107
18. Cumberland 86
19. Hudson 54
20. Salem 37
21. Cape May 27

Read more here: Tick And Mosquito Infections Surge In NJ, Elsewhere, CDC Says

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