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Two samples of Culiseta melanura species collected on Tuesday, Oct. 1, tested positive of the virus, officials announced. No new samples tested positive for West Nile virus.
To date, Suffolk County has reported 77 mosquito samples that have tested positive for West Nile virus and nine that have tested positive for EEE. On Tuesday, Sept. 17, Suffolk County reported two human cases of West Nile virus. Suffolk County has had no human cases of EEE.
No horses have tested positive for EEE or West Nile virus in Suffolk County this year.
“We don’t want people to be alarmed but rather informed,” officials said. “We will be treating the Manorville area for mosquitoes this weekend, and we encourage residents to take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.”
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.
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