West Nile virus cases reported in towns of Brookhaven and Riverhead, Suffolk health officials say
West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. Credit: AP/Rick Bowmer
Two more Long Islanders were sickened with West Nile virus, the mosquito-borne disease that the counties spray to prevent, Suffolk County's health department announced Tuesday.
Both people are older than 50 and recovered without needing to be hospitalized, the department wrote in a news release.
One person is from the Town of Brookhaven, the other from the Town of Riverhead, according to the release, which provided no other details. Both cases occurred last month.
"To date, four people have become ill with West Nile virus this season. The health department reported two cases in late August, one from the Town of Southampton and one from the Town of Huntington," the release said.
Nassau County didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for an update on the county’s West Nile infection totals. As of Aug. 29, Nassau County had not publicly reported that there have been any human infections this year.
Those considered most vulnerable are over 50 and with chronic illness and compromised immune systems.
West Nile — first identified in 1937 in Uganda's West Nile district, and first detected in Suffolk in 1999 and each year since — is the top cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For most infected people — eight out of 10 — there aren’t any symptoms; but one in five develops a fever with other symptoms such as headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or rash. Severe illness occurs in one in 50 people, the CDC says.
Two more Long Islanders were sickened with West Nile virus, the mosquito-borne disease that the counties spray to prevent, Suffolk County's health department announced Tuesday.
Both people are older than 50 and recovered without needing to be hospitalized, the department wrote in a news release.
One person is from the Town of Brookhaven, the other from the Town of Riverhead, according to the release, which provided no other details. Both cases occurred last month.
"To date, four people have become ill with West Nile virus this season. The health department reported two cases in late August, one from the Town of Southampton and one from the Town of Huntington," the release said.
Nassau County didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for an update on the county’s West Nile infection totals. As of Aug. 29, Nassau County had not publicly reported that there have been any human infections this year.
Those considered most vulnerable are over 50 and with chronic illness and compromised immune systems.
West Nile — first identified in 1937 in Uganda's West Nile district, and first detected in Suffolk in 1999 and each year since — is the top cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For most infected people — eight out of 10 — there aren’t any symptoms; but one in five develops a fever with other symptoms such as headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or rash. Severe illness occurs in one in 50 people, the CDC says.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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