Hauppauge, NY – Suffolk County Health Services (SCDHS) Commissioner James L. Tomarken announced that 29 additional mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus. The mosquito samples, collected on August 16th, were from locations in Holtsville (4), Rocky Point, Farmingville (2), Port Jefferson Station, Mastic Beach, West Babylon (3), Copiague, Lindenhurst, Huntington Station, East Northport, Northport (2), Greenlawn, South Huntington (2), Huntington, Holbrook, Bay Shore (2), Mattituck, Aquebogue, Smithtown and Brookhaven.  To date this year,   175 mosquito samples and twenty-one birds have tested positive for the virus.

James L. Tomarken, MD, MPH, MBA, MSW, Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, says today that West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook is closed to bathing due to the finding of bacterial levels in excess of acceptable criteria. 

The Vector Control Pesticide Management Committee is composed of various county and non-county members who are charged with reviewing emerging literature on potential impacts of vector control pesticides and evaluating pesticide reduction alternatives in regard to vector control activities.

The Suffolk County Department of Health Services has issued an advisory against bathing at the 11 beaches listed below.  The advisory is based on the potential that bacterial numbers in excess of New York State standards, resulting from yesterday’s heavy rain, will impact these areas.

Weather permitting; the Suffolk County Department of Public Works is planning to treat sections of the following communities as part of their ongoing annual efforts to control adult mosquitoes.