Overview

• The state health department is testing samples to confirm the infection, which would be New York’s first locally acquired chikungunya case if verified.
• Routine mosquito surveillance in Nassau County has not detected the virus, and health authorities note mosquito activity is waning as the season ends.
• The New York Times identified the patient as a 60-year-old woman from the Town of Hempstead, though officials have not released personal details.
• Experts say local transmission in the U.S. is uncommon, with the last recorded instances about a decade ago in Texas and Florida.
• Chikungunya causes fever and often severe, prolonged joint pain, lacks a specific antiviral treatment, and prevention guidance stresses repellents and bite avoidance as global outbreaks and travel-linked cases increase.