Westchester Man Ill With West Nile Virus

An elderly resident of Melbourne Avenue in the Village of Mamaroneck (VOM) has been diagnosed with West Nile Virus and is currently in a coma, said VOM Mayor Norm Rosenblum.

The man's family—who asked that his name and address not be released to the public—contacted Rosenblum to notify him that the man had been diagnosed about a week and a half ago while visiting friends in Canada.  

Rosenblum said the Westchester County Health Department had been notified and were scheduled to come investigate the man's home later this week.  The Health Department has not yet responded to a call for comment.

"I also believe this to be at least a second report of a West Nile Virus incident occuring in the Village of Mamaroneck. It is important that all take precautions to help prevent conditions which are favorable to mosquito infestation. Please make sure to eliminate any standing water and other situations that favor mosquito breeding," said Rosenblum in a statement.

According to the Westchester Department of Health website, a total of 25 batches of mosquitos tested positive for West Nile Virus since June, 10 of them from Mamaroneck. According to the Department, only 31 people have been diagnosed with West Nile in the past 12 years—there was one death as a result.

With only a river of separation, the Rockland County Health Department is pushing for high awareness of the disease, especially since they're documenting record-high numbers for the virus in the mosquito population.

In the past 12 years, 80 was the highest number of mosquito pools that tested positive for the West Nile virus, which was in 2002. The number of positive cases so far this year is 173. Just about one month ago, it was 112 on Aug. 24.

“At this point Rockland County has no documented human cases of West Nile virus,” said Rockland County Health Department Senior Environmental Health Specialist Brian Hunderfund. “We do have results from our adult mosquito trappings that indicates that there is West Nile virus in the mosquito population.”

The county collects from trappings around the county on a weekly basis. They started submitting mosquito samples in 2001.

“We’ve had more positive results this year than any year since our inception,” said Hunderfund. “We do mosquito surveillance and control and as part of surveillance, we test for other diseases. Presently the only disease that we’re picking up in the mosquito population is West Nile. We started submitting samples this year in the second week of June.”

Here are testing results as of Sept. 27:

644 Pools Submitted

Positives By Town

471 Negative

173 Positive

0 Pending

51 - Clarkstown

29 - Haverstraw

39 - Orangetown

45 - Ramapo

9 – Stony Point

Results from previous years is attached to this article as a PDF file.

Hunderfund stressed the importance of residents being proactive in preventing the virus by eliminating potential breeding grounds for mosquitos. For tips from the county health department, go to this Patch announcement.