COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Even though the temperatures have cooled off, health officials in southwest Michigan feel it’s too early to declare the risk of Eastern Equine Encephalitis transmission by mosquitoes over for the year.
Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency Health Officer Rebecca Burns said in her report for Thursday’s Board of Health meeting that they will still need some hard frosts to completely kill off the mosquitoes. She reported that last week, the agency was notified of two additional horse cases of EEE in St. Joseph County.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported a fifth human death from the disease, which would put the mortality rate at 50 percent for the human cases in Michigan.
Health officials in Indiana also reported a human case fatality in Elkhart County last week.
But Burns says there is some good news. She reports that trapping last week in Calhoun County after the aerial spraying did not turn up any of the cattail mosquitoes, which hopefully means they are dying off for the season.
