International Courant
A uncommon however lethal mosquito-borne illness is inflicting a Massachusetts metropolis to shut its parks and fields each evening, and 4 different cities are urging folks to not go exterior at evening.
They’re involved about japanese equine encephalitis. State well being officers introduced final week {that a} man in his 80s had contracted the illness, the primary human case present in Massachusetts since 2020.
Town of Plymouth, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Boston, introduced Friday that it’s going to shut outside public recreation areas from nightfall to daybreak day by day after a horse within the metropolis was contaminated with the illness.
In the meantime, state well being officers warned {that a} cluster of 4 cities south of Worcester — Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster — are at “vital danger” after an Oxford man contracted the virus.
State and native well being officers urged folks in these cities to keep away from peak mosquito chunk instances by stopping outside actions earlier than 6 p.m. by Sept. 30 and earlier than 5 p.m. thereafter till the primary exhausting frost arrives.
Additionally they advise folks in Massachusetts to make use of mosquito repellent when outdoor and to empty standing water round their properties.
Oxford Metropolis Supervisor Jennifer Callahan wrote in a memo that the household of the person who contracted the virus in mid-August had contacted her workplace.
“They need folks to remember that that is a particularly critical illness with horrible bodily and emotional penalties, no matter whether or not the individual survives,” Callahan wrote.
She stated the contaminated individual had typically informed his household that he had by no means been bitten by mosquitoes. However simply earlier than he developed signs, he informed them that he had been bitten. She stated the person remains to be in hospital and is “bravely preventing” the virus.
Callahan stated the household is urging folks to take public well being recommendation severely and do their utmost to guard themselves.
The presence of the virus in Massachusetts this 12 months was confirmed final month in a mosquito pattern and has since been present in different mosquitoes within the state. An outbreak in 2019 left six lifeless amongst 12 confirmed circumstances in Massachusetts. The outbreak continued the next 12 months with 5 extra circumstances and yet one more demise.
There aren’t any vaccines or remedies for EEE.
The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention says that EEE, whereas uncommon, could be very critical and about 30% of people that get contaminated die. Signs embrace fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.
Individuals who survive are sometimes completely disabled, and few get well fully, Massachusetts officers say. The illness is widespread in birds, and whereas people and another mammals can get EEE, they don’t unfold it.
Based on the CDC, only some circumstances of EEE are reported every year within the U.S., with most infections occurring within the japanese and Gulf Coast states.
Uncommon however lethal mosquito virus an infection has Massachusetts cities urging vigilance
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