Morris County is Dealing With its Highest Presence in Years of this Rare But Potentially Fatal Mosquito-Borne Illness
What is EEE? And how do you protect yourself and your loved ones?
Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) was confirmed in two more people as of Thursday, with one case each in Union and Atlantic Counties, according to Kim Cervantes, vector-borne disease coordinator of the state health department. Cervantes says this is the highest number of human cases in almost 20 years for the state. About half of New Jersey has seen a lot of EEE activity in mosquito samples, with positive tests for the disease in 13 counties, including Morris County, as of Sept. 14.
In some individuals, especially the elderly and people with weaker immune systems, mosquito-borne virus can cause death. EEE virus can cause brain infections (encephalitis), according to the CDC. While only a few cases are reported in the United States each year, roughly a third of people with EEE die, while many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems.
EEE, or “triple E,” can present as a milder illness, with fever, muscle and joint pain among symptoms. While milder cases can resolve within one to two weeks with a full recovery, those patients generally aren’t tested for EEE, and therefore they aren’t documented. But in others, the virus can progress to its most severe form, resulting in inflammation of the brain.
Read More about EEE in NJ here: NJ has 3 human cases of deadly mosquito-borne virus |
Protect yourself and your family from mosquito bites - Use Insect Repellent:
Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)registered insect repellents with one of the active ingredients below. When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women:
- DEET
- Picaridin (known as KBR 3023 and icaridin outside the US)
- IR3535
- Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE)
- Para-menthane-diol (PMD)
- 2-undecanone
Find the right insect repellent for you by using EPA’s search tool https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-repellent-right-you
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