MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) – A person living in New York has tested positive for the chikungunya virus in what state health officials say is the first reported transmission of the mosquito-borne illness within the United States in six years.

The state Department of Health said Tuesday that the 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 person 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, whom 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

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