{"id":325312,"date":"2026-08-19T21:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/325312\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:56:14","slug":"first-case-of-west-nile-in-2026-reported-in-nyc-health-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/325312\/","title":{"rendered":"First case of West Nile in 2026 reported in NYC: Health Department"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2014 A person in New York City has contracted <a data-ylk=\"slk:West Nile virus;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/pix11.com\/news\/local-news\/nyc-neighborhoods-with-west-nile-virus-positive-mosquitoes-list\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">West Nile virus<\/a>, according to the New York City Health Department on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Health officials did not identify where the person lived, but did say that he was spending time outdoors in the city and at several locations outside the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:Discover more local reporting on our homepage;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/pix11.com\/\" class=\"promo-link__link\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Discover more local reporting on our homepage\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It is the first reported case in New York City this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The city has stepped up efforts to stop the virus by increasing pesticide spraying across the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;West Nile virus\u00a0is spread by mosquito bites and cannot spread\u00a0from\u00a0person\u00a0to\u00a0person.\u00a0The good news is\u00a0it&#8217;s\u00a0preventable.\u00a0With\u00a0mosquito season in full swing,\u00a0we&#8217;re\u00a0encouraging New Yorkers to take extra precautions to minimize the risk of mosquito bites,&#8221;\u00a0said\u00a0NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister F. Martin.\u00a0&#8220;The steps to protect yourself are simple: wear\u00a0insect\u00a0repellent, cover up during dawn and dusk, and get rid of standing water around your home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The first human case of West Nile Virus was also reported by Suffolk County health officials. The individual lives in the Town of Brookhaven and began experiencing symptoms of West Nile virus at the end of July, according to county health officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">To stay updated on where mosquito control spraying will be conducted in New York City,\u00a0<a data-ylk=\"slk:click here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/site\/doh\/health\/health-topics\/west-nile-virus-spray.page\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Andrew Cruz is a digital content producer. A native New Yorker, he joined PIX11 in 2009 as a weather producer. More of his work can be found <a data-ylk=\"slk:here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/pix11.com\/author\/andrew-cruz\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/pix11.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2014 A person in New York City has contracted West Nile virus, according to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4517,3800,9,56,63,65,64,109437],"class_list":["post-325312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-health-officials","tag-mosquito-bites","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-west-nile-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}