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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — State health officials raised the risk level of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) to high in two Plymouth County communities Friday.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced EEE has been detected in additional mosquito samples collected in Abington, Middleborough, Wareham, and Whitman.
As a result, the EEE risk level has been raised to high in Carver and Middleborough and to moderate in Bridgewater, Lakeville, and Rochester, DPH said.
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The EEE risk level remains moderate in Amesbury, Groveland, Halifax, Haverhill, Kingston, Merrimac, Newburyport, Plymouth, Plympton, Salisbury, Wareham, and West Newbury.
The first EEE-positive mosquito samples in Massachusetts this year were announced on July 3 from Carver.
According to officials, there have also been EEE-infected mosquitoes identified in Halifax and Kingston in Plymouth County, Barnstable in Barnstable County, and Amesbury and Haverhill in Essex County.
EEE is a rare, but serious and potentially fatal disease that is generally spread to humans through an infected mosquito bite.
DPH said Massachusetts had 12 human cases of EEE with six deaths in 2019 and five human cases with one death in 2020.
There were no human cases of EEE in Massachusetts in 2021, 2022, and 2023, officials said.
"Summer is a time for people to be outside and enjoy themselves. We want people to have fun and keep themselves safe by being informed about where EEE is being found in mosquitoes," Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD, said in a statement. "Everyone should take the recommended steps to prevent mosquito bites. We recommend that people in high-risk areas use mosquito repellents any time they are outside and consider rescheduling outdoor activities that occur during the evening or early morning."
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