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The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, August 25, 2024, p. 22

Massachusetts. A rare but deadly mosquito-borne disease has prompted one Massachusetts town to close its parks and fields every night. Four other towns are urging people to avoid going outdoors at night.

They are concerned about eastern equine encephalitis after state health officials announced last week that a man in his 80s had contracted the disease, the first human case detected in Massachusetts since 2020.

The town of Plymouth announced it is closing its public outdoor recreational facilities from dusk to dawn every day after a horse contracted the disease.

While four other towns: Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster, are in serious risk after a man contracted the virus.

Voluntary confinement

Health authorities are urging residents to stay indoors during the hours when they are most at risk of being bitten by mosquitoes and to end outdoor activities at 6 p.m.

They also recommend using mosquito repellents when outdoors and draining any containers with standing water in your home.

It is an extremely serious disease with terrible physical and emotional consequences, regardless of whether the person manages to survive.

The infected person in Oxford had told his family that he had never been bitten by mosquitoes. But just before he developed symptoms of the disease, he said he had been bitten.

The man remains hospitalized and is fighting bravely against the virus, authorities reported. Arboviral encephalitis is a mosquito-borne disease that can cause neurological symptoms in humans and animals.