TRENTON, New Jersey (WPVI) — Two deaths have been linked to the West Nile Virus in New Jersey, state health officials announced Friday.

The deaths were among six new reported cases. The people who died lived in Cumberland and Mercer counties.

All of the cases involved people over 50 years old.

Previously, two human cases of West Nile were reported this year in Middlesex and Union counties.

In a typical year, there are 13 human West Nile infections reported in New Jersey. Last year, the state had 14 human cases of WNV and one death.

This comes after the state’s first human case of Eastern Equine encephalitis (EEE).

The New Jersey Department of Health and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are urging residents to take precautions to protect themselves from mosquito-borne diseases and to reduce mosquito populations on their properties.

Follow these simple steps recommended to keep mosquitoes at bay

Most people infected with West Nile or EEE will have no symptoms. For those who do, symptoms include fever, chills, body aches, and joint pains. Rarely, people may develop severe neurological illness, which often presents as meningitis or encephalitis.

Symptoms of severe illness include fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes/confusion, limb weakness, and fatigue.

Older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk of developing severe illness. Specific laboratory tests are needed to confirm West Nile and EEE, so anyone with symptoms after a mosquito bite should contact their health care provider.

No state has low levels of COVID activity anymore, as New Jersey’s rates climb, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.

Wastewater data from samples taken on Aug. 22 shows “high” or “very high” levels of disease activity in 46 states, two more than the previous sample period.

No states have low wastewater levels. Michigan and New Jersey were the last two states reporting low levels; both now have “moderate” levels. Vermont and West Virginia round out the four states still reporting “moderate” levels.

JERSEY CITY, NJ — A man riding an electric scooter was struck and killed by a NJ Transit bus in Jersey City last Friday, NJ Transit confirmed this week.

Timothy Alva, 29, of Bayonne was the victim in the crash, NJ.com reported Wednesday, citing a crash report.

An obituary for Alva described him as a “hardworking, very outgoing young man” who worked as a dialysis technician for Fresenius Medical Care, and who aspired to become a nurse.

On Friday, Aug. 23, around 11:56 a.m., the number 80 NJ Transit bus was heading toward Montgomery and Greene streets in Jersey City when it hit the victim at the intersection of West Side Avenue and Van Nostrand Avenue in Jersey City, NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith told Patch.

There were no injuries to the 40 customers on board the bus, Smith said.

Jersey City police are leading the investigation.

A police spokesperson was away this week and did not respond. Her email referred inquires to another spokesperson who did not respond by press time.

NJ.com said it has had difficulties obtaining information, and learned of the fatal crash through police radio transmissions and from a local activist.

“As of Wednesday morning, Jersey City police and officials had still failed to provide the crash report, a public document, to The Jersey Journal, despite multiple requests,” they wrote on Wednesday.

They said that the four-page crash report, obtained from local safe streets activists, says the bus driver went through a red light and only came to a stop a block after the crash.

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Thursday that they are not investigating, and that any investigation is being conducted by the JCPD.

Services for Alva will be held this weekend and on Tuesday. Read his obituary here.