Officials Issue Warning After 3 Die in Michigan from Mosquito-Borne Illness

Public health officials are urging people to refrain from holding events outside after dusk after three people in Michigan died from a mosquito-borne illness.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that three people died from the rare mosquito-borne illness called Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), or “Triple E,” adding that four others had been sickened by the virus.

According to a fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), EEE is transmitted by mosquitoes and is a rare cause of brain infections. At least 30 percent of humans who contract the disease die, and those who survive often have neurological problems, according to the CDC.

Health officials say it was the biggest outbreak the state has seen in a decade and urged people who lived in eight different counties — Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, Van Buren, Barry, St. Joseph, Lapeer, and Genesee — to postpone, cancel, or not hold any outdoor event after dusk until there is a “hard frost,” according to the state’s Health Department.

Bob Wheaton, a spokesperson for the Health Department, told the Detroit Free Press that the three people who died were all adults.

The state’s Health Department warned residents that the only way to prevent EEE is to avoid mosquito bites and gave the following tips on how to prevent them:

• Apply insect repellents that contain the active ingredient DEET, or other U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered product to exposed skin or clothing, and always follow the manufacturer’s directions for use.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants when outdoors. Apply insect repellent to clothing to help prevent bites.
• Maintain window and door screening to help keep mosquitoes outside.
• Empty water from mosquito breeding sites around the home, such as buckets, unused kiddie pools, old tires or similar places where mosquitoes may lay eggs.
• Use nets and/or fans over outdoor eating areas.

Officials say residents should see a doctor if they experience symptoms such as chills, sudden onset of fever, headaches, tremors, disorientation, seizures, paralysis, coma, and body and joint aches.