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Shelton and Stamford were among 26 towns to report cases of eastern equine encephalitis.
Other towns include:- Bethany;
- Chester;
- Colchester;
- Columbia;
- East Haddam;
- East Lyme;
- Groton;
- Haddam;
- Hampton;
- Killingworth;
- Ledyard;
- Lyme;
- Madison;
- Middlefield;
- Montville;
- North Stonington;
- Old Lyme;
- Plainfield;
- Salem;
- South Windsor;
- Sterling;
- Stonington;
- Voluntown;
- Waterford.
Three people in Connecticut - one each from East Haddam, East Lyme and Old Lyme - have died after contracting EEE. A Colchester resident was also hospitalized.
New Britain announced this week that a frost helped diminish the EEE-threat.
“The first frost over the weekend has definitely helped reduce the mosquito population around our area," New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said. "Which is why the director of health is advising me that city evening activities including school sports can schedule activities past 6 p.m.”
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station said it will continue to test bugs across the state for EEE as well as West Nile Virus.
Most people infected with the EEE virus do not become ill. When symptoms do occur they can range from mild fever and headache to coma. Other symptoms include high fever, fatigue, muscle aches, neck stiffness, tremors, or confusion. Severe cases include inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) which can lead to coma, convulsions, and death.
Symptoms usually occur 3 to 10 days after an infected mosquito bites a person.
Health officials said there is no cure for EEE, and three of every 10 people who get the disease die from it. Doctors can provide supportive treatment, lower the fever, and ease the pressure on the brain and spinal cord. Some people who survive this disease will be permanently disabled and only about half recover completely.
In 2013, the first human case of EEE infection in Connecticut was identified. This case involved an adult resident of eastern Connecticut who was hospitalized with encephalitis and died in fall 2013.
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