A New Jersey pediatric rehabilitation center is suffering from a new adenovirus outbreak that has made seventeen children fall ill. Ten out of those seventeen children, ranging from toddlers to young adults, have already died from this illness and so far, it’s the outlook is grim for the other eleven. Health experts say the kids were exposed to this virus between the dates September 26 to October 29, though symptoms are said to show fourteen days after a person gets the virus. October 9th was when authorities first found out about this outbreak.

Wondering what Adenovirus is? Adenovirus will sometimes feel like a cold or flu. They can cause all kinds of symptoms like fevers, headaches, headache, body aches and sometimes but not always cough, stomach distress and breathing

problems.The virus is very contagious and can spread easily. “Outbreaks are more common in late winter, spring, and early summer but can occur throughout the year,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The virus can make people very sick, and can even become risky and kill. People who are fragile and have weak immune systems are more prone to dying from the virus. You can develop pneumonia and respiratory failure. Adenovirus can also cause swelling to the brain, which can be deadly.

Officials believed the rehabilitation center is the cause of these kids’ illnesses. But this isn’t the first time the  Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation has had some problems. Wanaque was cited in 2016 AND 2017 for multiple issues like washing deficiencies, improper storage of syringes, and failure to disinfect surfaces. So it comes as no surprise that these kids got sick.

The hospital has been shut down, allowing no one to leave or enter. A date has been set up “to conduct training and assessments of infection control procedures,” the state health department stated.