N. Hempstead resident first LI 2010 West Nile fatality

An elderly North Hempstead resident is the first Long Islander - and believed to be the first person in New York State - to die of the West Nile virus this year, health officials said Thursday.

The person became ill on Aug. 8 with fever, weakness and altered mental status, said a release Thursday from the Nassau County Department of Health, which identified the victim only as older than 80.

Neither the person's gender nor age was released to protect the person's identity, Health Department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said.

The person died in a hospital, Laurain said. She declined to provide the date of death or the name of the hospital.

State Department of Health spokesman Peter Constantakes said, "We are not aware of any other deaths associated with West Nile virus" in the state this season.

Nassau also announced seven new human cases, bringing the county's total to 24, and said the number of mosquito pools that have tested positive for the virus reached 126. Both totals are the largest recorded in the county since the virus was identified in 1999.

In Suffolk, four human cases have been confirmed and 196 mosquito pools have tested positive, a spokeswoman said.

That brings the number of positive pools on Long Island to 322, also the highest since 1999, county officials said.

Before this year, Nassau had recorded 10 West Nile deaths; the most recent were in 2008, when four were reported. Two were reported in 2001, with one each in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2006, the county said.

Four people in Suffolk have died of the virus since 1999, spokeswoman Grace McGovern said: two in 2002 and two in 2003.

Both counties have undertaken aggressive spraying targeting mosquitoes this year. Nassau has sprayed by plane for the first time since 2008.

Constantakes, of the state Health Department, said the most recent statistics show Long Island and New York City account for all human cases. Through August of last year, seven human cases had been reported statewide, according to the state.

Officials cited the drier-than-normal weather as a possible contributor to this year's increase. One theory suggests that hot, dry summers can stress birds, the disease's host, experts said.

West Nile virus fight

This summer Long Island has recorded the highest number of West Nile human cases and mosquito pools containing the virus since 1999, the year the virus was identified here:

2010:

Total human cases on LI: 28

Nassau: 24

Suffolk: 4

Number of West Nile-positive mosquito pools on LI: 322

Nassau: 126

Suffolk: 196

Total West Nile deaths on LI since 1999: 14

Nassau: 10

Suffolk: 4