New York City has recorded 30 human West Nile virus cases so far this year, already more than the 18 cases the city logged in all of 2025, according to the NYC Health Department's surveillance summary. Twenty-four of those patients have neuroinvasive disease, the serious form in which the virus affects the brain or spinal cord. Cases have now been reported in all five boroughs.
The rising local count collides with a stubborn gap in how Americans protect themselves. A national Annenberg Public Policy Center survey of 1,904 adults found that only 15% know the CDC advises against putting repellent on skin under clothing, and just 18% know to look for an EPA-registered product. For families in Queens backyards or on Staten Island ballfields, those details now matter.
