Pretty serious news here in #Vermont: the VT Department of Health is “strongly recommending people in towns at high risk for [EEE] avoid spending time outdoors as much as possible between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. to avoid mosquitoes that could carry the virus.”
High-risk towns currently include Alburgh, Burlington, Colchester and Swanton. Sudbury, our neighboring town, is at moderate risk.
The warning is in effect until the first hard frost.
@JosephAndriano Thank you for sharing this!
I saw the news about some areas in MA needing to close parks because of "EEE" and was thinking, "How long until this affects us?" I was thinking a year or two, but clearly no!
@morgant I had heard about them asking people to stay inside from 6 am to 6 pm in MA, and was shocked when I saw this press release.
I do wish there was more guidance for the rest of us. What does it mean for Sudbury to be “moderate risk” and how should we change our behavior, in Sudbury itself or in neighboring towns? It’s a confusing situation and it would be great if we had more guidance.
@JosephAndriano Yeah. More guidance is necessary, for sure!
Mosquitos are out all day long in our yard/garden, though certainly peak in evening/morning. We always try to prevent & remove standing water, but in a city with close quarters we don't have control over neighboring properties. Guess we'll have to try to educate.
Glad to see that lemon eucalyptus oil products are on the EPA's list of effective repellents, but not brands I've seen in a couple years:
https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-repellent-right-you
@JosephAndriano Also, relieved that this is happening at a time when (a) the post-flooding mosquito boom has been subsiding and (b) it's actually getting cool enough to wear long pants/shirts outdoors. Though it was still at least 85F here yesterday!
@JosephAndriano There was a reported EEE death in NH recently :(
@rickscully It’s scary. Apparently one of the EEE deaths ~10 years ago was around here and it’s come up a few times in the past week or so. Very sad. It really steals nature from us since avoiding those winged vectors of disease is nigh impossible.
@JosephAndriano If it ain't the ticks it's the mozzies.
@JosephAndriano @anne Holy moly. Another terrible way to suffer.