By JOSEPH KELLARD
The 41-year-old man infected with the potentially lethal virus was admitted to a local hospital on Sept. 4 and discharged a week later, the NCDH announced earlier this month. He is one of three Long Island residents most recently diagnosed with West Nile, the other two being a Huntington man and a Levittown man, both of them 46-years-old.
"The last we heard [the Island Park man] was doing well," Cynthia Brown, spokesperson for the NCDH, told the Herald last week. "The other two patients are recovering and doing fine."
These three new cases, reported by the NCDH on Friday, Oct. 11, brings the total number of Long Islanders diagnosed with West Nile this year up to 15, with nine cases in Nassau County and six in Suffolk. Brown said the NCDH is investigating a possible tenth case.
Four Nassau residents were diagnosed with West Nile last year, but Brown said there is no indication of increased cases of the virus along the south shore of Long Island.
"These are the cases we know about. We don't know about the other cases. These are simply the cases that are confirmed by New York State health department," she said.
A mosquito-borne infection that can cause encephalitis, West Nile Virus was first found in the Western Hemisphere in Queens and Nassau County in 1999 and has since spread to a number of other states. When a mosquito bites an infected bird, it contracts the virus and then carries it to other birds, animals and people, creating the cycle by which the virus is commonly spread, Brown said.
A dead crow infected with West Nile was found last year in Oceanside, one of three such birds collected by the NCDH between Sept. 27 and Oct. 1, 2001. At that time more than 500 mosquito pools in Nassau County that were submitted for testing in 2001 had negative results for the virus. Positive cases include 27 mosquito pools, four humans, one horse and 37 birds.
A mosquito pool is the number of pests collected within a trap, and the virus-carrying species -- females who recently had a blood meal -- are separated from other species, sent to a lab in Albany and collectively tested for the virus.
Mosquito pools, not the number of dead birds, are most indicative of breeding grounds for the virus, since mosquitoes don't fly the distance a bird can, Brown said.
This year Nassau County had at least one mosquito trap at 42 sites. The sites were configured in a way so that they have a 1.5 to 2-mile proximity between them throughout the county.
In addition, year-long applications of larvicides, pesticides that suffocate the bugs in their larva stage before they can hatch, are applied to infected areas.
"We feel that is the most appropriate way to prevent mosquitoes within the area," Brown said.
Only after the weather becomes colder and two substantial frosts occur does the West Nile season end. Since the department cannot control where mosquitoes breed in the private sector, it continues to ask residents to take precautions by removing stagnant water from wherever it may exist on their property.
Residents worried
"Since I heard of the incident I've been very wary about this," said Island Park resident, Brian Tellis. "My kids are always outside playing, so it's always a concern, I usually check them for bites every night."
Residents agreed with more and more known about the West Nile Virus, they have become cautious, but nervous at the same time. "I think we all know what this virus is capable of doing, so it scares me," said Maggie Burke, a mother of three.
While residents admitted a fear factor it would not stop them from their daily routines. "Why should it, I think we've been educated enough where we can detect it early enough and get cured," Tellis said.
West Nile Virus Precautions
* Remove or empty standing water from old tires, garbage cans, or any object that can hold water.
* Make sure roof gutters drain properly and clean clogged gutters in the spring and fall.
* Keep swimming pools chlorinated and their covers free of stagnant water.
* Change the water in birdbaths every two or three days.
* Keep window and door screens in good repair.
* Consider wearing long sleeves, pants, socks and mosquito repellent (according to directions) when outdoors where mosquitoes are active, especially in the late afternoon and from dusk until dawn.
