State health officials are currently probing whether the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus that has triggered an aggressive COVID-esque response in China is now spreading in New York after a Long Island woman said she tested positive for the debilitating illness.

The 60-year-old woman from Hempstead in Nassau County said a preliminary screening detected the painful virus in her bloodwork last month — despite her not traveling out of her immediate area, the New York Times reported .

The woman’s blood samples have since been sent to the Health Department’s lab in Albany to confirm the diagnosis, according to officials. 5

“The New York State Department of Health is investigating a possible locally acquired case of chikungunya virus,” a department spokeswoman said.

“No locally acqu

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