While West Nile Virus had already been detected in all five NYC boroughs, the year’s first cases of actual New Yorkers carrying the virus has been detected.
According to the NYC Health Department, four people with West Nile virus have been reported in Queens and Manhattan–one was diagnosed with West Nile fever and three were hospitalized with neuroinvasive disease, beginning in late July.
In addition to the four New Yorkers carrying the virus, West Nile was also detected in blood donations from three people who reside in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, and reports of two people with possible West Nile virus disease in the Bronx are also under investigation.
Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan stated:
The Health Department is actively working to prevent West Nile through public education, treating marshy areas and spraying for mosquitoes…Using an EPA-registered insect repellent is one very important tool, especially when outside at dusk and dawn, when the types of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus are most active. You can also stop mosquitoes from laying eggs and reproducing in the water by emptying outdoor containers that hold water or calling 311 if you see standing water that you cannot empty.
The Health Department is also doing their part to combat West Nile virus by treating the areas of NYC with mosquito activity–there have been 10 completed adulticiding spray operations, three aerial larvicidings, two rounds of catch basin larviciding, and 1,634 ground-based larvicidings to date–and trapping and testing mosquitos found around the city.
As of Friday, August 16, there have been a total of 1,286 positive mosquito pools across the five boroughs, compared to last year’s 569 positive pools.
West Nile virus was first detected in New York more than 20 years ago. Over the past decade, an average of 17 people have been diagnosed with West Nile neuroinvasive disease each year in NYC.