4th West Nile case in Suffolk

An adult from the Town of Babylon is the fourth person in Suffolk County this year to be infected with the West Nile virus, health officials said Thursday.

The infected person was identified only as an adult older than 55, according to a release from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

The person was hospitalized "with abdominal pain, malaise, confusion and fever that began in September," the release said. "The individual has recovered."

Nassau County has had 16 human cases of West Nile so far this year, including one fatality, according to the health department.

The fatality was identified only as an adult male over the age of 70 who lived in the Town of Oyster Bay.

On Nov. 3, the Suffolk health department announced another case of the virus in a person from the Town of Islip. That person, younger than 55, "was hospitalized in August with nausea, vomiting, weakness and dizziness," and has recovered, the news release said.

The other two people who were infected this year were both from the Town of Huntington. One was older than 55, the other younger than 55; both have fully recovered.

The department's release said "privacy laws prohibit health officials from divulging any additional information" about those who were infected.

With William Murphy