Chittenden County man dies from eastern equine encephalitis

By EMMA COTTON

VtDigger

Published: 10-12-2024 2:00 PM

A man from Chittenden County died from eastern equine encephalitis in early September, the Vermont Department of Health announced Thursday.

The man, who was in his 70s, was the first person to die from the disease in Vermont since 2012, according to a press release issued by the department. He was hospitalized in late August, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the test results this week, the release stated.

Eastern equine encephalitis, often called EEE, is a rare but serious disease transmitted through mosquitoes that is fatal in about 30 percent of people who develop severe symptoms, according to the CDC.

There are no vaccines or treatments for the disease. Symptoms include headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, seizures, behavioral changes and drowsiness.

One other person is confirmed to have contracted the disease this year in Chittenden County, but recovered after being hospitalized in August. A horse in Addison County died after contracting the disease in September.  

While Health Commissioner Mark Levine cautioned Vermonters in high-risk areas to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites, he noted in an interview that “the mosquito bite that led to that unfortunate outcome probably occurred in the middle of August,” when the risk of contracting EEE was higher.

“So here we are now approaching the middle of October. It’s a very different situation and time of year, but again, not zero risk,” he said.

Health department data shows that the number of new mosquitos identified with the disease is declining, but in data collected between September 22 and 28, two out of 261 pools of mosquitoes tested contained the virus, in Grand Isle and Alburgh.

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Officials continue to urge residents in high-risk communities in parts of Addison, Chittenden, Grand Isle and Rutland counties to take precautions. Those include limiting time outside between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., wearing loose clothing with long sleeves and pants, using effective insect repellent, fixing holes in window screens, and getting rid of standing water outside your home.

In both confirmed Vermont EEE cases this year, the Department of Health notified the public weeks after the patients were suspected of having the disease. Levine said the lag time is due to logistical challenges associated with confirming that patients have EEE.

It takes time for the flu-like illness to develop, he said, and even more time for a patient to experience encephalitis, meaning a swelling of the brain, the most serious of EEE’s symptoms.

In the fatal case, the patient was likely bitten in mid-August.

“Those neurologic symptoms, of course, occurred over the rest of August,” Levine said. “Hospitalization occurred, and then, unfortunately, the tragic outcome of death occurred earlier in September.”

While the hospital conducted tests along the way, there was “no confirmatory evidence that this was a EEE case,” Levine said, because there are a number of diseases that can cause encephalitis.

Hospital workers had to send the EEE test to an out-of-state laboratory, and the result still wasn’t clear, he said. Then, the health department had to approve sending a new test to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which takes at least three weeks in the summer to process a test. The health department received results this week that the person tested positive for EEE.

Who is most at risk?

People most likely to contract EEE are those who spend a significant amount of time outside in areas where more mosquitos are testing positive for the virus.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets collected the first samples of mosquitoes that showed the presence of the virus in Vermont on July 22 in Alburgh and Swanton, according to an announcement from the Vermont Department of Health on Aug. 2.

That prompted state officials to worry about people living outside due to lack of housing, particularly in Burlington and greater Chittenden County, “which is why we made a program out of having insect repellent wipes distributed across the homeless encampments and sites within Burlington this year, just because we knew this mosquito activity was higher in Chittenden County,” Levine said.

Globally, climate change is increasing the risk of diseases spread by insects such as mosquitoes and ticks. That’s a concern in Vermont, too, Levine said, as the state experiences more intense heat, a longer warm season, and more rain and flooding that contributes to standing water — all conditions that are favorable for mosquitoes.

However, because there have been so few confirmed cases of EEE, it’s hard for scientists to know if certain underlying health conditions increase a person’s risk of experiencing severe symptoms or dying after contracting the disease, Levine said.

With Covid-19, for example, the department of health stresses that older people and those with immunocompromising diseases have much higher risks of dying, he said. With EEE, only about 5 percent of people with the disease experience the most severe symptoms, but “anyone could be at risk,” he said.

“I extend my condolences to the family and all impacted by this sad event,” Levine said in the department’s press release. “This is a heartbreaking reminder that while infection with the virus that causes EEE remains rare, this disease can have serious consequences.”