State health officials announced today that three animals have tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
Along with two emus in Fitzwilliam and a horse in Derry, a man in northeastern Massachusetts has also tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus. Officials are warning residents of Seabrook, South Hampton and Newton to be on alert.
Jose Montero is the state’s Director of Public Health.
"From what we see nationally, and in the literature, we know that most of the cases are really severe. And mortality can go anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of the cases. So that is what we are so concerned, that just a few cases, and you have a high chance of fatality with that particular disease."
Two people in Vermont have died this year from Triple E.
This has also been a particularly bad season for West Nile Virus, prompting many towns in southern New Hampshire to spray pesticides in public areas.
