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Alabama Children Test Positive for Respiratory Virus

Health officials say the department sent a message to all primary health physicians Aug. 29 to begin testing children showing symptoms of a severe respiratory illness.
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Health officials say the department sent a message to all primary health physicians Aug. 29 to begin testing children showing symptoms of a severe respiratory illness.

State health officials say several cases of a mysterious respiratory illness impacting children in 10 states have been confirmed in Alabama.

Officials from the Alabama Department of Public Health said Monday that four out of six specimens from Mobile County that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested positive for enterovirus D68. Officials say a fifth specimen tested positive for another illness and the sixth child tested negative.

Officials have said the virus can cause mild cold-like symptoms including runny noses, coughing and wheezing.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say the virus has been reported more than 100 children across the country. Public health officials have said it may be caused by an uncommon virus similar to a germ that causes the common cold.

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