East Lyme Resident Dead Of EEE, Second Case Confirmed Nearby

EAST LYME, CT — A person from East Lyme who was diagnosed with Eastern Equine Encephalitis has died, the state announced Friday, and a second person from Old Lyme is also confirmed to have the infection.

The person who died was hospitalized with encephalitis in late August, according to a news release from the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The death marks the state's first fatal human EEE case since 2013.

The second person to be stricken with the disease became ill during the second week of September with encephalitis and remains hospitalized.

States throughout the Northeast are experiencing an active EEE season. Ten human cases have been identified in Massachusetts, including two fatalities, and three human cases have been identified in Rhode Island, including one fatality. About a third of people who develop EEE die, and there is no treatment for the illness.

The state also announced Friday that an adult resident of Danbury has tested positive for West Nile virus. The Danbury resident, who is recovering after becoming ill with encephalitis during the third week of August, is the first human in Connecticut to contract West Nile this season.

"Using insect repellent, covering bare skin and avoiding being outdoors from dusk to dawn are effective ways to help keep you from being bitten by mosquitoes," health department Commissioner Renee Coleman Mitchell said in the news release. "Mosquitoes continue to be active until the first heavy frost."