Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Found In Plymouth County

BOSTON (AP) — The eastern equine encephalitis virus has been detected in Plymouth County for the first time this year, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Wednesday.

The presence of EEE was confirmed by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory in mosquito samples collected on July 13 from a single location in Carver in Plymouth County.

The findings mark the third time the EEE virus has been confirmed in tested mosquito samples in Massachusetts this year.

The two earlier findings of the virus were detected in samples collected July 1 and July 5 in Franklin County.

No human or animal case of EEE has been detected so far this year.

EEE is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease that can affect people of all ages and is generally spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.

There were 12 human cases of EEE in Massachusetts in 2019 with six deaths.

There's no human vaccine for the virus.

West Nile virus has also been detected this year in mosquitoes in Middlesex and Suffolk counties. There were five human cases of West Nile virus in 2019.

No human or animal cases of West Nile virus have been detected so far this year.