HEALTH : First Lyme Disease Death Told
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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — An 11-year-old girl has died of Lyme disease, marking what could be the nation’s first reported case of a fatality caused by the tick-borne illness, health officials said today.
The listing of Lyme disease as the cause of death for Mandy Schmidt of Sayreville was confirmed Tuesday, said Bernard Mihalko, the director of the Middlesex County Health Department.
Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, said today the agency had never received a report of a death from Lyme disease.
Lyme disease is spread to humans by deer ticks infected with the bacteria.
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