CONNECTICUT – A mosquito in Connecticut has tested positive for the Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus for the first time this season.
The mosquito was caught on August 3 at Stonington High School, according to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
This is early in the season to find EEE-carrying mosquitoes, according to virologist and medical entomologist Philip Armstrong, who runs the statewide program for mold capture and testing at CAES. That’s a “cause for some concern,” he told Patch.
Armstrong said he is sending his teams back to increase the state’s capture in the affected areas.
“We need to have a much better sense of what the risk is in that in the coming weeks,” he said.
CAES maintains a network of 108 mosquito traps in 87 cities across the state. Mosquitoes are usually introduced Monday – Thursday night on each site every ten days on a rotating basis and then twice a week after detecting a virus.
There were also seven mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile Virus in the last test round. That brings the number to 28 so far this season, but no human cases have been reported.
EEE is a rarer (4-8 cases per year reported in the US), and much more serious disease than WNV. The latter has gotten more press because its virus-carrying bugs are going where the people are, in the more densely populated urban and suburban parts of the state.
Last year, CAES discovered WNV in 82 mosquito trials from 23 cities. The majority of WNV activity was detected in densely populated urban and suburban regions in Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven Counties.
EEE is found in the sums of freshwater and more rural areas, according to Armstrong, and had a big year here in 2019. The virus was detected in 28 communities in Connecticut with a total of 122 positive mosquito samples. There were four confirmed human cases of EEE and three people died. Most virus activity occurred in Middlesex, New London and Windham Counties, in line with previous years.
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“About a third of people who develop encephalitis die from the infection and many of those who survive suffer from lifelong brain damage,” Armstrong said.
CAES estimates the end of the mouse season will not be until the end of October, and with no vaccine yet approved for use against EEE virus or West Nile virus, prevention is everything.
“Now is the time to take precautionary measures against mosquito bites,” said Jason White, director of CAES.
“We encourage everyone to take simple measures, such as wearing mosquitoes and covering bare skin, especially during twilight and morning sessions when mosquitoes are most active.”
To reduce the risk of mosquito bites, residents should:
- Minimize the time spent outside between dusk and breakfast when mosquitoes are most active.
- Make sure that door and window screens fit snugly and are in good repair.
- Wear shoes, socks, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt when you are outside for extended periods, such as when mosquitoes are active. Clothing should be light-colored and made of tightly woven materials that keep mosquitoes away from the skin.
- Use mosquito nets when sleeping outdoors or in a non-shielded structure and to protect small babies when outdoors.
- Consider the use of mosquito repellents recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such as those containing DEET, picaridine, lemon eucalyptus oil, IR3535, or 2-undecanone, and apply as directed, if necessary. is to be outside.
