马萨诸塞州公共卫生部（MDPH）官员周五宣布，已经通过州实验室测试确认了第十例东部马脑炎（EEE）。受害人是已经死于疾病的弗里敦人。
Fairhaven的Laurie Sylvia于8月下旬去世后，今年夏天该州的EEE死亡总数上升至2 。
同时，今年已经有八种完全证实的EEE病例出现在各种动物中，包括鸟类，几匹马和一只山羊。
MPH公共卫生专员Monica Bharel医师对WHDH Boston说：“我们继续强调人们需要保护自己免受蚊虫叮咬。” “预计本周末异常温暖的天气将增加人与蚊子之间的户外活动。绝对重要的是，人们必须采取措施避免被蚊子叮咬。”
预定从周五到周一，马萨诸塞州的气温将达到80年代中期至低点，这意味着会有更多的人在户外活动，而蚊子将有更大的机会咬伤弱势人群。
先前宣布的最新疾病受害者是一名5岁的萨德伯里女孩，她在当地一家医院继续病情不断，并已从重症监护病房（ICU）移走。
在马萨诸塞州，有35个社区处于感染EEE病毒的严重风险中，40个处于高风险中，128个处于中等风险中。MDPH 发布了一张地图，突出显示了最容易受到感染的地方。强烈建议马萨诸塞州居民采取适当的预防措施，以防蚊子传播疾病的感染，包括使用驱蚊剂，穿长袖衬衫和长裤，避免在黄昏和黎明后离开家，并清空后院的积水。
EEE通常是一种罕见的疾病，但它对所有年龄段的人都有致命的危险，尤其是年轻人和老年人。全国各地都有零星的疫情暴发，但马萨诸塞州有两套独立的暴发疫情，一套是2004-2006年，另一套是2010-2012年。在这两次疫情中，总共有22人被感染。
该病的症状包括发烧，头痛，烦躁，躁动，嗜睡，厌食，呕吐，腹泻，发cyan和抽搐，最终导致昏迷。所有EEE病例中有三分之一在感染后10天内死亡。
夏季在马萨诸塞州采集的417多个蚊子样本对该病毒呈阳性反应。
马萨诸塞州农业资源部已在受影响县范围内对蚊子进行了空中和地面喷雾。
在整个美国，六个州共有7人死于EEE。
MASSACHUSETTS ANNOUNCES SECOND DEATH IN STATE CONNECTED TO EEE ALONG WITH TENTH CASE
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) officials announced Friday that a tenth case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) has been confirmed by state lab testing. The victim is a Freetown man who has already died of the illness.
That brings the total number of EEE deaths in the state this summer to two after Laurie Sylvia of Fairhaven passed away of the disease in late August.
Meanwhile, there has been eight fully confirmed cases of EEE this year in various animals, including birds, several horses and a goat.
"We continue to emphasize the need for people to protect themselves from mosquito bites," Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH told WHDH Boston. "The unusually warm weather expected this weekend will increase outdoor activity among people and mosquitoes. It is absolutely essential that people take steps to avoid being bitten by a mosquito."
Temperatures in Massachusetts are schedule to reach the mid to low eighties from Friday through Monday, which means more people will be outdoors—and mosquitoes will have a greater opportunity to bite vulnerable people.
The latest previously announced victim of the disease, a 5-year-old Sudbury girl, continues to improve in a local hospital and has been moved from the ICU.
There are 35 communities at critical risk, 40 at high risk, and 128 at moderate risk for contracting the EEE virus in Massachusetts. The MDPH has released a map that highlights the most vulnerable locales for risk of infection. Massachusetts residents are strongly encouraged to take proper precautions against infection by mosquito-borne illnesses, including using mosquito repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants, avoiding leaving the home after dusk and at dawn, and emptying any standing water in their backyards.
EEE is usually a rare disease, but it has the potential to be fatal in people of all ages, especially the young and the elderly. There have been sporadic outbreaks of the illness throughout the country, but Massachusetts has had two separate sets of outbreaks—one from 2004-2006 and another from 2010-2012. A total of 22 people were infected during these two outbreaks.
Symptoms of the illness include fever, headache, irritability, restlessness, drowsiness, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, cyanosis and convulsions, eventually leading to coma. One third of all EEE cases die within ten days of infection.
Over 417 mosquito samples taken over the summer months in Massachusetts have tested positive for the virus.
The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has conducted aerial and ground spraying for mosquitoes throughout the affected counties.
Throughout the United States, seven people total have died of EEE across six states.
