Vehicles spraying Boston neighborhoods for mosquitoes after human EEE cases
In the wake of two human cases of eastern equine encephalitis elsewhere in Massachusetts, the Boston Public Health Commission’s spray trucks will be hitting the road Monday night.Last week, DPH confirmed the first human case of EEE in Massachusetts in six years after a man older than 60 from southern Plymouth County tested positive. The man’s family said he is a resident of Rochester.The second case involved a man from Grafton, who was between the ages of 19 and 30, officials said.Mosquito spraying took place Monday night in Hyde Park and West Roxbury and spray truck swill move to East Boston Tuesday night. Spraying will be conducted in neighborhoods located near Orient Heights including streets in the vicinity of Orient Avenue, Boardman Street, Andrew Road and Horace Street. If spraying is postponed, it will be rescheduled for Thursday.Other communities are also taking measures against mosquitoes. Ground spraying occurred overnight in Dartmouth, Easton, Somerset, Taunton and Westport. The Town of Andover will spray for mosquitoes in the area of Abbot Street between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Tuesday. The area is bounded by Andover Street, Woburn Street, Spring Grove Road, Abbot Street, Eastman Road and Abbot Bridge Drive. If there is inclement weather, spraying will be postponed until Wednesday.Andover officials said they are planning to spray town-owned athletic fields on Friday with fields re-opening to the public the next day.Nineteen Massachusetts communities, not including Boston, are considered to be at a “critical risk” for EEE, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Eastern equine encephalitis is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease that can affect people of all ages. The EEE virus has been found in 288 mosquito samples this year, many of them from a species of mosquito capable of spreading the virus to people.The most recent EEE outbreak periods in Massachusetts occurred from 2004-06 and 2010-12. According to the DPH, there were 22 human cases of EEE infection during those two outbreak periods, with 14 cases occurring among residents of Bristol and Plymouth counties.
BOSTON —
In the wake of two human cases of eastern equine encephalitis elsewhere in Massachusetts, the Boston Public Health Commission’s spray trucks will be hitting the road Monday night.
Last week, DPH confirmed the first human case of EEE in Massachusetts in six years after a man older than 60 from southern Plymouth County tested positive. The man’s family said he is a resident of Rochester.
The second case involved a man from Grafton, who was between the ages of 19 and 30, officials said.
Mosquito spraying took place Monday night in Hyde Park and West Roxbury and spray truck swill move to East Boston Tuesday night.
Spraying will be conducted in neighborhoods located near Orient Heights including streets in the vicinity of Orient Avenue, Boardman Street, Andrew Road and Horace Street. If spraying is postponed, it will be rescheduled for Thursday.
Other communities are also taking measures against mosquitoes. Ground spraying occurred overnight in Dartmouth, Easton, Somerset, Taunton and Westport.
The Town of Andover will spray for mosquitoes in the area of Abbot Street between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Tuesday. The area is bounded by Andover Street, Woburn Street, Spring Grove Road, Abbot Street, Eastman Road and Abbot Bridge Drive. If there is inclement weather, spraying will be postponed until Wednesday.
Andover officials said they are planning to spray town-owned athletic fields on Friday with fields re-opening to the public the next day.
Nineteen Massachusetts communities, not including Boston, are considered to be at a “critical risk” for EEE, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Eastern equine encephalitis is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease that can affect people of all ages. The EEE virus has been found in 288 mosquito samples this year, many of them from a species of mosquito capable of spreading the virus to people.
The most recent EEE outbreak periods in Massachusetts occurred from 2004-06 and 2010-12. According to the DPH, there were 22 human cases of EEE infection during those two outbreak periods, with 14 cases occurring among residents of Bristol and Plymouth counties.
