A New Hampshire man has died from eastern equine encephalitis, marking the state’s first case of the mosquito-borne virus in a decade. Massachusetts and Vermont have also reported recent cases. pic.twitter.com/UEFAABH7E8
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 27, 2024
Finally, people are taking action against viruses.
Viruses have plagued us for far too long.
It’s time to strike back – with poison gas!
A New Hampshire resident infected with the rare but potentially lethal mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis virus has died, state health authorities said.
The Hampstead resident’s infection with the disease also known as EEE was the first in the state in a decade, the New Hampshire health and human services department said Tuesday. The resident, whom the department only identified as an adult, had been hospitalized due to severe central nervous system symptoms, the department said.
Meanwhile, the disease has prompted officials to close public parks as well as implement targeted bug spraying in several communities in nearby Massachusetts.
EEE is a virus that generally spreads to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It can affect people of all ages, cause severe illness and possibly lead to death.
About 30% of people who become infected die, according to the CDC, and many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems.
As of Sunday, 13 communities in Massachusetts are designated as being at risk. And in an effort to reduce the general risk of infection, state officials will conduct sprayings this week – both by plane and by truck – of a pesticide that controls mosquitoes in the at-risk areas.
“We have not seen an outbreak of EEE for four years in Massachusetts,” the commissioner of the Massachusetts department of public health, Robbie Goldstein, said on Saturday. “This year’s outbreak and activity raise the risk for communities in parts of the state. We need to use all our available tools to reduce risk and protect our communities.”
Aerial spraying is used where there is a “high risk of human disease”, state officials said. That form of spraying will be taking place this week in towns in Plymouth county – and spraying by truck will occur in areas of southern Worcester county.
Is the government trying to give everyone chronic illness?
Isn’t the food bad enough? The chemicals in the water? The plastic everywhere?
They have to go ahead and spray everyone with poison gas as well?
Rare mosquito-transmitted viruses, particularly sloth fever and eastern equine encephalitis, are “accelerating” in the U.S. and will soon “be our new normal” says infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez.
MORE: https://t.co/weJ1izkCDg pic.twitter.com/cwZqFiYezi
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) August 28, 2024