Boston.com “This year’s EEE season has been particularly active and is generating a lot of concern in communities across Massachusetts.” A fourth human case of Eastern equine encephalitis has been detected in Massachusetts this season, state health officials announced Monday.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in a statement that the newest case is in a man in his 50s, who was exposed to the mosquito-borne illness in an area of Middlesex County that is designated as at high risk for EEE.
So far this season there have been 91 EEE-positive mosquito samples in Massachusetts, with the bulk of the activity in Plymouth And Worcester counties, though infected mosquitoes have also been found in Bristol, Essex, and Middlesex counties. In addition to the four human cases, two horses have been diagnosed with EEE in the state this season, according to officials.