BARNSTABLE – Two more samples of mosquitoes tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis this week.
Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project Assistant Superintendent and Entomologist Gabrielle Sakolsky recently informed health agents of the positive tests.
One sample of 5 Cs melanura collected on September 10 at Head of the Meadow in Truro tested positive for EEE. This is a bird biting mosquito species that is known to amplify EEE in the bird population.
Another sample of 37 Cx restuans/pipiens collected on the same day at Barlow’s Landing in Bourne tested positive for EEE.
Crews checked and treated the areas in both communities.
Truro and Bourne both had previous positive mosquito tests for EEE earlier this summer. Other communities on Cape Cod that have tested positive for EEE include Falmouth and Wellfleet.
Sakolsky said there will be an increased risk in the region until the first hard frost.
The Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project will continue expanded surveillance through October.
The state’s Department of Public Health reported the eighth human case of EEE on Friday. The latest case of the mosquito-borne disease is in a man in his 50s from northeastern Bristol County.
Of the previous seven cases, one was in a 5-year-old girl, and another in adult woman in Fairhaven was fatal.
None of the confirmed human EEE cases have been on Cape Cod.
There have also been eight confirmed cases of EEE in animals and one human case of West Nile virus.
There are 35 communities in the state now at critical risk for EEE, 38 at high risk, and 120 at moderate risk.
Wareham is one of the communities at critical risk. Bourne, Falmouth, Truro and Wellfleet are listed at moderate risk. The remaining Cape Cod communities are considered at low risk.
Health officials urge residents to use insect repellent when mosquitoes are at their most active.
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
