EEE Threat Has Schools Cancel After Dusk Outdoor Activities

EAST LYME, CT—Urging families to protect themselves, East Lyme schools have canceled all outdoor activities after dusk. Superintendent Jeffrey R. Newton sent a letter home to families Monday announcing that owing to the threat of Eastern Equine Encephalitis infection, athletic practices and games and any other school-related outdoor activity will end by 5:30 p.m.

An East Lyme resident has contracted encephalitis and is being treated. The person's condition is unknown. It is the second-ever reported case of a human with EEE in state history.

Department of Public Health commissioner Renée D. Coleman-Mitchell said an adult resident of East Lyme tested positive for EEE. The person became ill the last week of August with encephalitis and remains hospitalized.

Laboratory tests, which were completed today at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Laboratory in Ft. Collins, Colorado, confirmed the presence of antibodies to the virus that causes EEE.

Newton wrote that in addition to the schools taking precautions so as to "protect our students," he urged families to avoid outside activities from dusk to dawn and to protect themselves by using mosquito repellent.