Mosquito Spraying Delayed Amid Deadly EEE Threat In RI

The second round of spraying planned for two areas at "critical risk" of Eastern equine encephalitis in Rhode Island has been delayed due to inclement weather. Spraying was originally scheduled for Monday night, but bad weather in Massachusetts means that it won't happen until at least Tuesday.

Earlier this month, EEE killed a West Warwick man in his 50s.

Mike Healey, the chief public affairs officer at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, said that a delay in spraying in Massachusetts pushes the schedule ahead in Rhode Island. Rhode Island's spraying will now happen on Tuesday or Wednesday night.

According to the Coventry Emergency Management Department, rain and winds as high as 20 miles per hour in the forecast delayed spraying in Massachusetts, pushing back Rhode Island's schedule as well.

The DEM announced the second round of spraying on Sept. 19 for two targeted areas in the middle and southern part of the state. The first includes all of West Warwick and parts of Coventry, Warwick, East Greenwich and Scituate. The second is in the southwest part of the state, including most of Westerly, Hopkinton and Charlestown as well as parts of Richmond and South Kingstown.

Last week, two more Rhode Islanders were diagnosed with EEE — a Charlestown resident in their 50s and a 6-year-old girl from Coventry. In Massachusetts, EEE has killed two people this summer.