SPRINGFIELD, IL – Laboratory results received recently from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have pushed the number of human West Nile disease cases contracted in Illinois last year to more than 800, Dr. John R. Lumpkin, state public health director, has reported. Dr. Lumpkin said the 35 new cases identified by CDC include the death of a 91-year-old Macon County woman and the first case from Logan County. The additional laboratory positive cases bring to 813 the number of Illinoisans who contracted the mosquito-borne disease in 2002, including 53 who died.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has developed a strategy to offer smallpox vaccinations to as many as 16,000 Illinois public health and hospital personnel to prepare for the possibility of a terrorist attack, Dr. John R. Lumpkin, state public health director, has announced. “The probability of an intentional release of the smallpox virus remains low but, since the consequences of such an attack would be so great, we must be prepared,” Dr. Lumpkin said.

FACILITY FINED FOR NOT SAFEGUARDING RESIDENTS

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Alden Park Strathmoor $10,000 for failure to protect its residents from sexual abuse. The 189-bed skilled care facility is located at 5668 Strathmoor Drive in Rockford.

RYAN ANNOUNCES TEEN BIRTHS REACH NEW LOW

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Governor George H. Ryan has announced that the number of Illinois teenagers having babies last year reached the lowest level since the state began gathering birth statistics by age in 1959. This marks the seventh straight year the percentage and number of births to mothers 19 years of age or younger had declined. Of the 184,022 Illinois births in 2001, 10.9 percent, or 20,092 were to mothers 19 years of age or younger, down from 11.4 percent (21,108) in 2000, the previous low.