The Board of Health in Oxford, a city of 13,300 people about 50 miles southwest of Boston, has set an outdoor curfew in hopes it will reduce the chances of people being bitten by mosquitoes which bring eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).
This decision was made after a resident of the town became the first human to contract the rare and untreatable disease domestically in almost four years.
EEE triggers a fever and brain swelling and can result in seizures and comas. One-third of people infected with EEE die and those who recover are frequently left with lifelong physical and mental problems.
The dusk-to-dawn curfew begins at around 8 p.m. It is only a recommendation and not a rule but town officials are hoping it will drive people inside before peak mosquito hours, decreasing risk of exposure. (Related: Florida issues MALARIA alert as mosquitos emerge in Sunshine State.)
Officials have not released the identity of the man infected but have said he is in his 80s, lives in Oxford and contracted the illness recently.
The EEE risk level has been raised to critical in four cities and elevated to moderate in nine others.
A memo released by the Town of Oxford said the individual is hospitalized and "courageously battling this virus," according to one of his family members who has reached out to officials many times.
"They want people to be aware this is an extremely serious disease with terrible physical and emotional consequences, regardless if the person manages to live," said Oxford Town Manager Jennifer Callahan in a memo regarding the family of the man who caught the virus that had reached out to her office. "They want residents to take the public health recommendations regarding prevention measures of contracting this virus seriously."
The memo also said that a horse infected with EEE in nearby Connecticut had died from the virus.
There were 12 human cases of EEE in Massachusetts in 2019 and six people died, while there were five human cases and one death in 2020.
As reported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health there were no cases or deaths in each year from 2021 to 2023.
So far in 2024, two other cases of EEE have been reported, one each in Vermont and New Jersey. All three current American patients have developed serious neuroinvasive cases.
EEE a very serious condition with a mortality rate of about 33%
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), EEE symptoms usually start within four to 10 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Most people infected do not show symptoms but those who develop severe cases will experience fever, chills, body aches and joint pain.
The CDC added that for mild cases, recovery takes about one to two weeks and a patient could possibly recover completely if the infection does not affect the central nervous system. Those with severe cases can develop meningitis or encephalitis.
The symptoms consist of fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes, drowsiness and even coma.
The CDC said that although EEE is rare, it is very serious and about 33 percent of people who become infected die. Death usually happens about two to 10 days after the emergence of symptoms.
Massachusetts authorities said people who survive are generally permanently disabled and only a few totally recover.
The disease is common in birds, and even though humans and some other mammals can get EEE, they don't spread the disease.
The CDC said only a few cases of EEE are reported in the United States annually, with most infections identified in the eastern and Gulf Coast states. There are no vaccines and specific treatments for EEE.
Follow Plague.info for more news about mosquito-borne diseases spreading in America.
Watch this episode of "World Alternative Media" as host Josh Sigurdson reporting on the Massachusetts towns doing voluntary lockdowns after a man was hospitalized from a mosquito bite.
This video is from the Alex Hammer channel on Brighteon.com.
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