KILLER SWARM

Residents Told to Stay Home With Deadly Mosquitoes Out for Blood in Massachusetts

The East Coast state’s first confirmed human case of eastern equine encephalitis this year has already seen parks closed and events rescheduled.

At least ten communities in Massachusetts have been designated at either “high” or “critical” risk of a deadly virus carried by infected mosquitoes, The Washington Post reports. Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), as the disease is known, is rare but highly dangerous, with a fatality rate of about 30 percent and a high incidence of neurological disorders in those who do survive. Several towns, including Plymouth and Oxford, have already imposed restrictions, such as closing parks and banning outdoor activities between dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are otherwise at their most active. It comes after a man in his 80s, reported to live in Worcester County, just west of Boston, became the state’s first confirmed human case so far this year. Though Massachusetts has not suffered an outbreak of EE since 2019, scientists warn there may well be an increased risk of the disease in future, with mounting temperatures due to climate change creating an ever more favorable environment for mosquitoes to thrive during the summer months.