Yardville Elementary School preschool student dies of respiratory illness

Toys and cleaning equipment are stored outside Yardville Elementary School. Eli Waller, a four-year-old preschool student, died of a enterovirus-68 in September.

The New Jersey Department of Health has confirmed four new cases of enterovirus-68, bringing the total statewide to 18, while a school in Mercer County sent an alert to parents about a possible infected student.

Three of the new confirmed cases were in Monmouth County and one was in Bergen County, the state Department of Health said on Friday. The New Jersey cases so far have all involved children age 12 and younger and have included Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Sussex counties, the state said.

The superintendent of Bound Brook schools confirmed another case in a letter to parents last week, but state health officials say that the CDC has not confirmed any cases in Somerset County. There is also an enterovirus case in Elizabeth, but officials have not determined whether it involves the rare strain.

One Mercer County case led to the death of 4-year-old preschool student Eli Waller on Sept. 25 in what is believed to be the first death nationally attributed directly to EV-68. It is also the only fatality in New Jersey linked to EV-68.

The Hopewell Valley Regional School District in Mercer County emailed parents on Thursday to inform them about an unconfirmed case of EV-68 in a student who attends Hopewell Valley Central High School.

“We’re just trying to be proactive,” Thomas Smith, superintendent for the district, said Friday.

The Hopewell Valley student, who is being treated, alerted the district about the possible case Thursday, Smith said. Smith then sent an email to parents saying the district was taking a number of precautionary steps. The district is reviewing response protocols with township health officials, the email said.

“These protocols include following best practices for notification and employing a rigorous cleaning procedure on a daily basis in each of our schools and offices to provide a safe environment for our students and staff,” Smith said in the email, stressing that the schools are safe.

In the email, Smith also stressed the “importance of our students and children following proper hygiene strategies (handwashing), avoiding close contact and the sharing of cups or eating utensils, and most importantly, keeping students home when they are ill.”

Smith will update parents on the situation moving forward, he said.

Brendan McGrath may be reached at bmcgrath@njtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @brendanrmcgrath. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.