Massachusetts health officials last week announced that an Oxford man in his 80s had become the first person to be infected with the virus in the state since 2020.
The man, who has not been named, is “courageously battling” the virus in hospital, Jennifer Callagan, a local official from Oxford, wrote in a memo.
She said his family “want people to be aware this is an extremely serious disease with terrible physical and emotional consequences, regardless of if the person manages to live”.
The curfew in Plymouth came after the virus was detected in a horse, prompting officials to raise the local alert level.
“EEE is a rare but serious disease and a public health concern,” said Robbie Goldstein, the Massachusetts public health commissioner. “We want to remind residents of the need to protect themselves from mosquito bites, especially in areas of the state where we are seeing EEE activity.”
On average, only 11 human cases of EEE are reported in the United States every year, according to the CDC. But it can be extremely dangerous.
No treatment or vaccine
Symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and seizures, with most deaths coming between two and 10 days after they begin. There are no treatments or vaccines available.
Those that survive infection often suffer ongoing neurological problems that can leave them permanently disabled, with few ever making a complete recovery.
The disease is prevalent in birds and is spread by mosquitoes to humans and other mammals, who do not circulate enough of the virus in their blood to pass it on again.
An outbreak of EEE in Massachusetts between 2019 and 2020 infected 17 people, killing seven of them, according to the state’s public health department.
As of Saturday, 10 Massachusetts communities had raised their alert level for EEE to either high or critical. The state’s Department of Agricultural Resources on Saturday announced plans to spray Plymouth County with insecticides by air.
Massachusetts, along with several other states, is also battling an outbreak of West Nile Fever, a less dangerous mosquito-borne virus from the same family as Zika and Dengue.
Some 216 human cases have been reported across the country so far this year, with the highest concentration of cases reported in Texas, according to the CDC.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the former director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who led the country’s response against Covid-19, spent six days in hospital after contracting the virus. He is now at home and is expected to make a full recovery.