An elderly woman on Long Island became Nassau County's first
confirmed case of West Nile virus in a human this year, as the
nation battles what has been described as one of the largest-
ever outbreaks of the disease. The woman, who Nassau County
Health Department officials described as over 70 and a resident
of the town of Oyster Bay, became sick July 27, was hospitalized
and is now recovering. The Centers for Disease Control said
Wednesday that so far there have been five confirmed cases of
West Nile in New York State -- on Staten Island, Long Island and
in Oswego and Onondaga counties upstate. There have been two
cases each in New Jersey and Connecticut. A county-by-county
breakdown can be found here. U.S. health officials reported
Wednesday three times the usual number of West Nile cases for
this time of year and one expert called it "one of the largest"
outbreaks since the virus appeared in this country in 1999. So
far, 1,118 illnesses have been reported, about half of them in
Texas, according to the Cente