Andover Lifts EEE Evening Outdoor Activity Restrictions

ANDOVER, MA —After a long summer of outdoor restrictions and extra worry about mosquitos, Andover's announced its first hard frost this weekend, reducing lingering Eastern equine encephalitis virus fears. That means restrictions on outdoor activities, which have been limited for months, have finally come to an end. The hard frost came just days too late to rescue the town's standard trick-or-treating hours: they ran 4 to 6 p.m., earlier than usual, this year.

"The Town recognizes that this public health threat has had an impact on the community’s normal activities and would like to thank residents for their patience during this period leading up to the past weekend’s hard frost," the town said in a press release. "The Board of Health is grateful for the supportive response from the residents as it works to protect all from exposure to this serious illness."

That doesn't mean the town is totally out of the woods: the state public health department still lists Andover as a high risk area for EEE. EEE is a serious but very rare disease, which had an outbreak in the state this year. According to the state, "There is no treatment for EEE. In Massachusetts, about half of the people identified with EEE died from the infection."

Since Andover's designation is still in place, the following precautions are advised to prevent exposure to bites from mosquitoes that may carry EEE:

• Wear long sleeves and long pants when outside from dusk to dawn;
• Use mosquito netting on baby carriages and playpens;
• Wear mosquito repellent when outdoors, especially between dusk and dawn; and,
• Avoid outside areas with obvious mosquito activity.