(FOX 2) – The Michigan Health Department is urging residents in some Michigan counties to reconsider having outdoor events that happen after dusk right now, due to mosquitoes. Health officials are seeing a rise in rare mosquito-borne virus, eastern equine encephalitis – or EEE – and some have resulted in death. Two additional deaths have happened recently in southwestern Michigan, in Cass and Van Buren counties. Those follow an earlier death in Kalamazoo County. There also have been human cases in Barry and Berrien counties, and animal cases in St. Joseph, Genesee and Lapeer counties. department is
encouraging officials in affected counties to consider postponing, rescheduling or canceling outdoor activities occurring at or after dusk, particularly activities that involve children until there’s a hard frost. Those include sports. Children are especially vulnerable to the virus. EEE is one of the most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases in the United States, with a 33 percent fatality rate in people who become ill and a 90 percent fatality rate in horses that become ill. Signs of EEE include the sudden onset of fever, chills, body and joint aches. It can develop into severe encephalitis, resulting in headache, disorientation, tremors, seizures, and paralysis. Permanent brain damage, coma, and death may also occur in some cases. READ MORE
