Third CT Resident Dies From EEE, While Fourth Contracts Virus

CONNECTICUT — The state Department of Public Health confirmed Tuesday afternoon that an East Haddam resident is the third Connecticut resident to die from the Eastern equine encephalitis virus. This person, who is between 60 and 69 years of age, became ill during the second week of September and died the third week.

The state health department also learned that the CDC has also confirmed EEE to be the cause of illness for a resident of Colchester who became ill during the third week of August and who remains hospitalized. This person is between 40 and 49 years of age. An East Lyme and an Old Lyme resident have already died as a result of the EEE virus.

“Sadly, this has been an unprecedented year for EEE activity in Connecticut,” Dr. Matthew Cartter, the DPH State Epidemiologist, said. Cartter said before this year, there had been only one human case of EEE in Connecticut, and that was in 2013.

“We have had four human cases of EEE, three of which were fatal. All four were most likely exposed to infected mosquitoes sometime between August 11, 2019 and September 8, 2019, which was the peak period of mosquito activity in Connecticut” Cartter said. “All four residents live in a part of eastern Connecticut where EEE activity has not been a problem before this summer.”

Dr. Theodore Andreadis of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station told Patch earlier on Tuesday that the two new cases are in the "general vicinity" of the two previous cases where two elderly people died after contracting the virus.

He said areas in and around the Lymes are suspect and that the two new cases are "younger" than the two people who died after developing encephalitis. One, Patrica Shaw, was 77 and the other was 70. Andreadis said the elderly and very young children are more likely to contract the virus after being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Andreadis said this year’s "major outbreak" might be mitigated next year with additional funding to increase the mosquito monitoring program.

With trapping, he said, there’s "very few surprises: we can almost always detect the virus." But this year has been "unusual because we didn't have a presence in that vicinity," he said, referring to areas near the Lymes, Montville, Salem, and Colchester.

He said CAES is "looking to increase our testing and trapping program and add new locations" and will ask the governor for "more funding to increase trapping."

“In the southeastern part of the state from the lower Connecticut River valley to the Rhode Island border region, the risk of becoming ill as a result of being bitten by a mosquito infected with EEE virus is low but not zero,” Cartter cautioned.

“The forecast is for cooler weather to arrive by the weekend, but the risk of EEE will not be gone until the first hard frost.”

Mosquitoes that are confirmed to have EEE also now include Bethany and Middlefield, officials said Tuesday.

EEE has killed two people in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island in recent weeks.

Andreadis said the majority of human cases where the result is severe encephalitis are generally seen in the elderly and in children under the age of 15.

He said science is not certain what percentage of the population who gets exposed does not get symptoms. Some may have antibodies that protect them he said, adding, “this would be a very good year to do a study” on who gets the disease and why.

Although EEE-infected mosquitoes continue to be detected in the southeastern corner of Connecticut, the numbers are declining and we are not experiencing the excessively high levels of activity seen in Massachusetts.

It takes four to 10 days after the bite of an infected mosquito to develop symptoms of EEE. Severe cases of EEE virus infection result in encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. Approximately a third of patients who develop EEE die and there is no specific treatment for EEE.

State health officials advise against unnecessary trips into mosquito breeding grounds and marshes as the mosquitoes that transmit EEE virus are associated with freshwater swamps and are most active at dusk and dawn.

Overnight camping or other substantial outdoor exposure in freshwater swamps in Connecticut should be avoided. Even though the temperatures are getting cooler, mosquitoes continue to be active until the first heavy frost and residents should continue to take measures to prevent mosquito bites. Pesticide spraying to kill adult mosquitoes is unlikely to be effective at this time of year when it is cooler at night and mosquitoes are less active.

In a press release, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont advised people to take proper precautions to protect themselves against EEE.

"State government is being cautious on peoples' behalf and we are just warning folks to be careful, but there is no need to panic," Lamont said. "We want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to provide updated information on these developments to the people of our state. If you must be outside early in the morning or at dusk, it's a good idea to take some simple precautions."

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said citizens should be informed and not "panic, but please remember to use bug spray, wear long sleeves and pants, and try to avoid spending time outdoors after dusk."