8th death reported at North Jersey medical facility

New Jersey health officials confirmed late Friday that an eighth child has died at the North Jersey medical facility where seven patients, most of them children, earlier succumbed to a viral infection.

The New Jersey Health Department said that laboratory tests were not yet available to confirm whether the child was infected with adenovirus, which has been blamed for the deaths of seven "medically fragile" pediatric patients at the Wanaque Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation in Haskell, Passaic County.

So far, there have been 23 confirmed adenovirus cases. The latest death occurred late Friday afternoon.

The 227-bed for-profit facility cares for gravely ill children and adults, many of whom use wheelchairs and must breathe and eat through tubes.

While the cases are labeled pediatric, at least one victim was as old as 22, which is still defined as pedaitric at the facility, the Associated Press reported.