New York horse with Eastern equine encephalitis was infected in Swanton

The Vermont Department of Health is raising concerns about Eastern equine encephalitis, a virus transmitted through mosquitoes that can cause life-threatening illness in humans, after learning that a New York horse that tested positive for the virus was infected in Vermont. 

On Wednesday, the Clinton County Health Department of New York announced that a horse in Schuyler Falls tested positive for the virus. The horse had previously been living in Swanton, near where mosquitoes had tested positive for EEE, and the incubation period for the virus indicates that it would have been infected in Vermont, according to the Vermont Department of Health. 

State officials are advising people in Franklin and Grand Isle counties to take extra precautions to avoid mosquitoes and potential exposure to the virus. 

“Because of this increased health risk, state officials strongly recommend that schools, families, organizations and campgrounds in the Alburgh and Swanton communities limit outdoor activities and events taking place around dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active,” the health department said in a press release Friday. 

To prevent exposure to mosquitoes, officials also recommend: wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants outdoors, using insect repellent that’s effective against mosquitoes, getting rid of any pools of standing water where mosquitoes can breed, covering strollers and outdoor playpens with mosquito netting, and ensuring screens don’t have holes and are tightly attached to doors and windows. 

There is no treatment for humans who are infected with EEE, according to the release. Most people who are infected show mild symptoms such as fever, chills, fatigue, joint and body aches or none at all. Those who experience severe illness can develop encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. The disease is fatal to about one-third of people who develop severe illness, according to the release. Officials urged those with symptoms to contact their health provider as soon as they feel sick.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets routinely tests mosquitoes from locations around the state. Last month, they discovered EEE in bird-biting mosquitoes collected from pools in Alburgh and Swanton — the first detection in the state since 2015. 

“The finding of EEE in a horse indicates the presence of the virus in mosquitoes that also bite mammals, elevating risk of human and animal exposure,” the health department said. 

There haven’t been human cases of EEE in Vermont since in 2012, when two people died of the virus. The virus also killed two unvaccinated horses that year. Horses cannot spread EEE or the West Nile virus, also present in Vermont this year, to other horses or people.

This season, the agriculture agency has tested 1,805 mosquito pools — groups of up to 50 mosquitoes that are the same species and collected from the same site. Ten have tested positive from five sites — two in Alburgh and three in Swanton.

State officials are considering aerial spraying in areas where the positive pools have been identified to protect public health, according to the release.

Horse owners should make sure their animals are properly vaccinated for EEE, West Nile and other viruses spread by infected insects, according to state officials. 

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