Oyster Bay man first to die of W. Nile

A 70-year-old Oyster Bay man has died of West Nile infection, the first person this year on Long Island to succumb to the mosquito-borne virus.

Outside of his age, gender and town of residence, the Nassau County Department of Health released few details. Officials did say the man, who lives in Oyster Bay Town, had been hospitalized for the illness and that he had an underlying medical condition.

So far, nine Nassau County residents have contracted the seasonal infection, and 29 of more than 40 traps have captured mosquitoes that have tested positive for the virus, health department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said Wednesday.

There have been no West Nile deaths in Suffolk County.

However, the first laboratory-confirmed case occurred in a Huntington resident last month. That person, described only as an adult younger than 55, experienced fever, chills, body aches and swollen lymph nodes lasting about five days. The person was not hospitalized and has fully recovered, Suffolk Health department spokeswoman Grace Kelly-McGovern said Wednesday.

West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of an infected female mosquito, which needs the blood to produce eggs. The insects contract the virus from birds, their preferred source of blood.

Laurain noted that mosquitoes causing the infection usually live on or near the property of people they bite and need only a small amount of water -- about the volume filling a flower pot base -- to breed.

Nassau's Department of Public Works is planning ground treatment with an insecticide in affected sections of the county to help control mosquitoes that may be carrying West Nile virus, Laurainsaid.

For medical questions regarding West Nile in Suffolk: 631-853-3055, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. To alert county officials about dead birds (reservoirs of the virus) call 631-787-2200 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.