N.Y. officials confirm first locally acquired chikungunya virus case

MINEOLA, N.Y. — New York health officials have confirmed the state’s first locally acquired case of chikungunya virus, and the first such case in the country in six years.

The state Department of Health said Tuesday that the mosquito-borne virus, which has been spreading in China and elsewhere, was identified in a person living in Nassau County on Long Island.

The county’s health department, in a separate statement, said the individual began experiencing symptoms in August after having traveled outside of the region, but not out of the country.

It’s not clear how exactly the person, who authorities have not named, contracted the virus.

Health officials say the person was likely bit by an infected mosquito, but they also say the virus has not been detected in local mosquito pools and th