https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7407855/Stay-inside-dusk-dawn-avoid-bites-EEE-mosquitoes-state-officials-warn.htmlStay inside, spray, yadda yadda...if you get it...don't complain. SSDD
My question - where did this come from?
Most mosquito bites probably don’t transmit the virus
“The infection rates for mosquitoes tends to be low," Weaver says. "Unlikely more than 1 in 100 mosquitoes are infected in a given region.”
EEE probably evolved in South America and arrived in North America at least 1,500 years ago
Based on Weaver’s research, EEE likely evolved several thousand years ago in the Amazon Basin in South America.
“We can’t say for sure, but biodiversity in the tropics is greatest on all continents, so there’s more opportunity for these viruses to find a unique niche," Weaver says.
EEE is closely related to other viruses that primarily live in rodents, so Weaver thinks this virus likely first evolved in rodents and eventually jumped into song birds, which are its primary hosts today. “It’s likely that Eastern equine encephalitis virus changed from rodents to birds when it moved to North America,” he says.
People in North America first identified the virus when it started killing horses, hence the name
“It was just a matter of time before there [were] enough people and horses around and it was really noticed,” Weaver says. “[People] didn’t have a way to know if the virus was there unless humans and horses were around to get sick.”
That finally happened in 1831, when the first recorded cases of EEE resulted in the deaths of 75 horses in Massachusetts.
The threat of EEE wanes with the first frost
It's hard to know just when the first cold weather of the season will arrive, killing off many mosquitoes. In the meantime, state officials have been spraying pesticide in areas where mosquitoes have tested positive for EEE and warning residents to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites.https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2019/08/29/eastern-equine-encephalitis-questions-answeredYeah...and if it originated there...probably still there, yes? And in migratory paths going north, yes? And infecting people along the way, yes? And if 1/20 cases can be severe...others could still carriers?
See, it's not just the creeping, crawling flying critters being a host...their down-playing that aspect...for obvious reasons.
This can, and has...
...migrated from MA...and can pop up anywhere.
