Massachusetts Town Enacts Evening Curfew Over Rare But Deadly Mosquito Virus

A uncommon but deadly mosquito-borne microorganism has sent Massachusetts residents scrambling for cover. Last week, the municipality of Oyster enacted a voluntary curfew to lessen the hazard of radical contracting Eastern equine encephalitis, oregon EEE. The determination was prompted by the state’s archetypal lawsuit seen since 2020.

Unlike different diseases commonly dispersed by mosquitoes, specified arsenic malaria oregon dengue, EEE isn’t a persistent thorn successful humanity’s side. The microorganism usually circulates betwixt Culiseta melanura mosquitoes and birds surviving successful freshwater hardwood swamps. But sometimes these infected mosquitoes volition wound humans who rotation excessively adjacent to a swamp, oregon radical volition get bitten by different taxon that precocious fed connected infected birds. Either way, humans (and horses, for that matter) are dead-end hosts, since the microorganism can’t replicate good capable successful our bloodstream to beryllium transmitted immoderate further by mosquitoes.

While EEE doesn’t regularly infect humans, it tin origin existent occupation erstwhile it does. The microorganism tin invade the brain, triggering a terrible corruption that kills astir a 3rd of its victims. And adjacent those who past these infections are often near with lingering neurological symptoms.

In 2019, determination were 38 reported cases of EEE successful the U.S.—the astir documented successful caller history. On average, determination are 11 cases reported annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control. This twelvemonth has been tamer than usual, with lone 4 quality cases and 1 decease (in New Hampshire) reported truthful far.  But 1 of these cases precocious occurred successful the region of Worcester, Massachusetts, involving a antheral successful his 80s who has been hospitalized arsenic a result. And that has led wellness officials to instrumentality action.

Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health declared that 4 towns successful Worcester—Douglas, Oxford, Sutton, and Webster—were present considered to beryllium astatine captious hazard for EEE, pursuing the find of the state’s archetypal lawsuit successful astir 5 years. They advised that radical surviving successful these areas instrumentality precautions, specified arsenic utilizing insect repellant, wearing long-sleeved clothing, cleaning up sources of stagnant lasting h2o adjacent their homes, and trying to enactment indoors during dawn and dusk hours (peak feeding clip for galore mosquitoes). But successful Oxford, location of the state’s quality case, Board of Health officials took things 1 measurement further. They voted to enact a curfew past Wednesday, recommending that outdoor events extremity astatine 6 p.m. done September, and astatine 5 p.m. starting successful October done the year’s archetypal hard frost. The curfew is voluntary for residents, though it volition use to each town-sponsored events. Private businesses inactive readying to usage town-owned lands for their evening events volition beryllium required to archetypal person due security and instrumentality connected immoderate ineligible liability, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

This is acold from the archetypal clip that section officials person enacted curfews to forestall the dispersed of EEE, with respective towns successful Massachusetts and Connecticut doing the aforesaid successful 2019. But this time, the determination received overmuch much ire from immoderate residents. About 200 radical showed up astatine a municipality hallway gathering acceptable to sermon the measure, CNN reported Tuesday, immoderate of whom voiced displeasure astir the move. At slightest for immoderate of these dissenters, the representation of the covid-related nationalist wellness measures that occurred years earlier loomed ample successful their minds.

“In my family, we were wholly done erstwhile Covid ended. We were done being locked inside, being scared. Living frightened is nary mode to live,” Philip Davis, president of Oxford’s Little League, told CNN.

The pushback wasn’t capable to deter wellness officials, however, who voted unanimously for the curfew. “At the extremity of the day, the Board of Health’s occupation is to support nationalist health, and determination is EEE successful Oxford. It’s a precise superior illness, and we don’t privation anyone other to get sick,” Rike Sterrett, Oxford’s manager of nationalist health, told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

2024 is looking to beryllium an off-year for EEE, and it’ll apt ne'er go arsenic superior a occupation arsenic different mosquito-borne illnesses, similar West Nile. But scientists person warned that a warming climate volition marque EEE and galore different diseases dispersed by insects and ticks a much communal world stateside.