On Friday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) announced the state’s third confirmed case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus infection in a male over the age of 60 who was exposed to the virus in northern Franklin County.
As a result of the confirmed infection, the towns of Heath and Colrain are now at critical risk for the EEE virus.
Additionally, two horses — one in Mendon and one in Uxbridge — also tested positive for the EEE virus, raising the level to critical in those town as well.
The DPH also announced that ten Worcester County towns — Blackstone, Douglas, Dudley, Holliston, Hopedale, Mendon, Millville, Oxford, Uxbridge, and Webster — have been added to the spray zone for aerial spraying that will occur in Worcester County on Sunday, August 25.
The 13 Worcester County communities that have already been announced to be in the spray zone include Berlin, Hopkinton, Milford, Millbury, Northbridge, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Sutton, Worcester, Upton, Grafton, Southborough and Westborough.
“We are seeing the most intense level of EEE activity that we have in several years. The largest area is in Bristol and Plymouth Counties with a second focus of activity in parts of Worcester and Middlesex Counties,” said Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH. “We are urging people across the state to remember that the peak time for transmission of mosquito-borne illness extends through September here in Massachusetts.”
In total across Massachusetts, there are 23 communities now at critical risk, 22 at high risk, and 52 at moderate risk for the EEE virus.
Residents are encouraged to visit the DPH website at www.mass.gov/guides/aerial-mosquito-control-summer-2019 for the latest updates on spraying in their communities.
Lead image by skeeze from Pixabay
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