The year’s first case of West Nile virus at a popular New York beach and campground has been detected, officials said Friday.
The virus was found in a mosquito sample collected from a trap set at Watch Hill at Fire Island National Seashore, a 30-mile-long barrier island off Long Island, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) said.
Watch Hill is a popular camping spot on federal land between Davis Park and the Fire Island Wilderness, and the trap was part of a collaborative mosquito monitoring program between NPS and Suffolk County Department of Health Services – Arthropod-Borne Disease Laboratory.
West Nile Virus was first confirmed in New York State in 1999 – the same year the virus first entered the U.S. The virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the country, per the CDC.
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The mosquito sample that tested positive for West Nile Virus was found in a trap at Watch Hill, a…