NEW CITY – The season’s first human case of West Nile virus in Rockland County has been reported by county officials.
The patient, a resident of the county, is over 50 and tested positive for the illness based on clinical symptoms and preliminary laboratory finding, officials said. The person was hospitalized on August 29 and discharged on September 4.
“This human case of West Nile virus reinforces the urgency of the need for people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and to continue to check their property and get rid of standing water around their properties were mosquitoes breed,” said County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert. She said while most mosquitoes are not infected with the virus, a bite from an infected mosquito can spread West Nile causing potentially serious illness, and in some cases, death.
Ruppert said although a person’s chances of getting sick are small, those 50 and older are at highest risk for serious illness.
