BARNSTABLE – The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced on Thursday that a mosquito sample collected on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in the north-west quadrant of the Town of Barnstable tested positive for eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but serious illness spread by the bite of an infected mosquito.
This disease has caused 43 infections and at least 23 deaths in Massachusetts since the turn of the millennium, with heightened risk for people under 15 and over 50 years of age.
Health and safety officials advise residents to follow a few simple common precautions, such as applying insect repellant, avoiding the outdoors during peak mosquito hours at dusk and dawn, and mosquito-proof their homes by draining standing water and maintaining effective screens on their windows and doors to reduce the transmission of EEE and other mosquito-borne illnesses.
The town will continue to provide updates should more information become available.
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