State health departments across the nation are learning this month the number of West Nile virus cases they thought they had in 2008 was overstated — in one case by more than 35% — because of faulty testing kits.
The problem test kits, from Inverness Medical Innovations of Waltham, Mass., resulted in incorrect diagnoses of West Nile virus in at least 42 states, said Kristen Janusz, an epidemic intelligence service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mosquito-borne illness, first identified in the U.S. in 1999, produces mild flu-like symptoms and can cause death.
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