Two Massachusetts residents have contracted the mosquito-born West Nile virus in the state’s first human cases of the year.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) announced Tuesday, August 29 that one woman in her 70s was exposed to the virus in another area of the country and a man in his 40s was exposed in Middlesex County in Massachusetts.
Two Massachusetts residents have contracted West Nile virus in the state’s first human cases this year. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Authorities noted that the virus is at a moderate risk level in the Greater Boston area, which includes Middlesex County, Norfolk County and Suffolk County, as well as in parts of Bristol County, Plymouth County, Worcester County, Hampden County, Hampshire County and Berkshire County.
“This is the first time that West Nile virus infection has been identified in Massachusetts residents this year,” said Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD.
New York City is dealing with a record number of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus, according to the city’s health department. (iStock)
Goldstein said that August and September are the highest risk months for contracting the deadly virus.
“Populations of mosquitoes that can carry and spread this virus are fairly large this year, and we have seen recent increases in the number of WNV-positive mosquito samples from multiple parts of the Commonwealth,” Goldstein said.
In 2022, there were eight human cases of the West Nile virus infection identified in Massachusetts, with the first being announced on August 25. The first case of 2021 came on September 1.
Since the West Nile virus first entered the U.S. in 1999, it has become the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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