2010 07 27 EEE virus warning expands in SE Massachusetts

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A widening swath of Southeastern Massachusetts is considered at high risk for eastern equine encephalitis, an especially lethal viral disease spread by mosquitoes, state health authorities said today.

A warning that originally included only Lakeville and Middleborough was expanded by the Department of Public Health to include 15 additional cities and towns: Acushnet, Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Duxbury, Fairhaven, Freetown, Halifax, Kingston, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Plympton, Raynham, Rochester, and Taunton. Surrounding towns are believed to be at moderate risk.

The intensified warning was prompted by testing that found mosquitoes infected with eastern equine encephalitis as far south as Fairhaven, near New Bedford, and as far north as Duxbury. So far, 10 collections of mosquitoes have tested positive for the disease, and a horse has succumbed to the illness.