Nassau: Oyster Bay woman is first confirmed West Nile case

A woman older than 60 from the Town of Oyster Bay was reported as Long Island's first confirmed case of West Nile virus this year, a Nassau County health official said Wednesday.

The woman, whose symptoms started Aug. 8, was hospitalized and is now recovering at home, said Mary Ellen Laurain, communications director for the Nassau County Department of Health.

To date, there have been no confirmed human cases in Suffolk County, said a spokeswoman for that county's health department.

Some mosquito bites can transmit West Nile to humans.

Mosquitoes pick up the virus by feeding on infected birds.

Nassau has reported 25 mosquito samples that were positive for the virus, and Suffolk, 126. Nationally, last year ranked as the second-worst in terms of West Nile cases since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Nassau and Suffolk counties reported 14 human cases each last year, including one Nassau death.