West Nile detected in mosquito in Nassau

Nassau health officials Monday reported the county's first detection of West Nile virus this summer in a mosquito sample taken in West Hempstead on July 8.

Nassau is the third municipality in New York State where the potentially lethal virus has been found so far this year.

No human cases have yet been reported in 2011, according to the state Health Department.

New York City was the first to report a detection of West Nile, a July 7 news release says. The infected mosquitoes were collected in the Eltingville neighborhood in Staten Island.

Last week, Suffolk officials said West Nile virus had been isolated in a sample collected June 30 in Patchogue.

While Suffolk already has sent spray trucks to target adult mosquitoes in some neighborhoods, Nassau officials said they had no plans to spray for adult mosquitoes at this time.

Both counties use networks of mosquito traps to monitor populations and, as needed, dose mosquito-breeding areas with larvicides to keep numbers down.

Control efforts in the West Hempstead area "will be intensified," according to a Nassau news release.

The Nassau results were confirmed Monday by the state Health Department, officials said.

West Nile virus is spread by "the house mosquito," which does not fly more than 200 feet from its breeding site, officials said.

They advised residents to clear their homes and yards of containers that could hold standing water where mosquitoes breed.

Other tips include making sure roof gutters drain properly, and keeping swimming pools and ponds properly maintained.