Huntington resident dies of West Nile

A third Suffolk County resident has died of West Nile disease - the sixth Long Island resident to succumb to the mosquito-borne infection this year, one of the worst on record for a virus that has been in the Western Hemisphere only 11 years.

Neither the name nor gender of the latest victim was released. Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. James Tomarken said the person, who was hospitalized for symptoms that included fever, chills and altered mental status that began Sept. 18, died on Sunday. The patient, from Huntington, had an underlying medical condition and was older than 55, Tomarken said.

The New York State laboratory also confirmed two additional West Nile infections in Suffolk: a Huntington resident and a Brookhaven resident both younger than 55. Neither was hospitalized and both recovered at home. The number of cases in the county this year has reached 19.

Seven people have died of West Nile in Suffolk since the virus was first identified in 1999: two in 2002, two in 2003 and three so far in 2010, Tomarken said.

Experts attribute the higher number of human cases to a greater number of virus-laden mosquitoes.

Nassau deputy health commissioner Lawrence Eisenstein has called this year the worst for West Nile-infected mosquitoes since the virus first struck in Queens 11 years ago.

A record 57 cases have been confirmed in Nassau this year. The county saw three West Nile deaths this year.

West Nile researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca cite many unknowns about the virus and infections, which increase and decrease from year to year. In 2005, for example, there were 12 cases in Nassau and one death compared with nine cases in Suffolk. The following year saw five cases and one death in Nassau but only two cases in Suffolk.

In 2007, only two reported West Nile cases occurred on Long Island, both in Nassau, and no deaths. But the numbers jumped in 2008, when there were 20 cases in Nassau and four deaths, and nine cases in Suffolk. Last year, Nassau had no cases while Suffolk had one.

West Nile virus is harbored by birds and transmitted to humans by female mosquitoes that have fed on infected fowl. The females need blood to produce fertile eggs. Most people - around 80 percent - bitten by West Nile-positive mosquitoes are unharmed.

With Gary Dymski