Maine pheasants test positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), and Pennsylvania Owl tests positive for West Nile Virus (WNV), with other recent EEE and WNV reports

Ring-necked Pheasant

Maine  10/02/09  wcsh6.com:  Just in time for the kick off of bird hunting season in Maine, state health officials have confirmed a third case of Triple E (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) among pheasants. The third flock that tested positive for the virus was in the York County town of Dayton. Also, new mosquito pools found in the towns of York and Lebanon have tested positive for Triple E, meaning there could be many more birds out there that are infected. Hunters are being urged to use caution this fall.  ”If you do kill a bird you should use some precautions. Do not expose yourself to the blood of that bird for instance, use gloves”, said Maine CDC Director Dr. Dora Mills. Officials saying carrying along a pair of lightweight examination gloves while hunting is good practice this year. Also, thoroughly cook the bird’s meat. That will kill off the virus.

Mississippi  10/02/09  wlbt.com:  A family member says the only person in Leflore County officially diagnosed with West Nile virus this year, has died as a result of complications from the disease. Mary Jane Faulkner tells The Greenwood Commonwealth her brother, 64-year-old Britt Thomas, died Wednesday at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Faulkner said Thomas was a longtime diabetic, and that condition likely contributed to his inability to recover from West Nile, which is a mosquito-borne virus. She said Thomas is believed to have contracted West Nile on Aug. 4 while mowing his yard.

In 2008, Leflore County had four human cases of West Nile and one death, according to the Mississippi Department of Health’s West Nile Web site.

California  10/02/09  mydesert.com:  Two new mosquito samples found south of Mecca tested positive for West Nile virus this week, the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District announced Thursday.  But with a total of 13 positive mosquito samples and no reported human cases in the area to date in 2009, the valley is having a record low year for the disease — as is all of California, officials said.  This time last year, the valley had 51 positive samples and 54 for the whole year, said Branka B. Lothrop, the district’s general manager.

Statewide, the number of positive samples took a similar nosedive — from a year-to-date figure of 1,788 in 2008, to 1,008 so far this year, according to the California Department of Public Health. Figures from the department also show that human cases of West Nile have dropped statewide from 269 in 2008 to 61 this year. Riverside County has had one case so far this year, down from 62 in 2008, said Barbara Cole, director for disease control for the county’s Department of Public Health.

Overall, the 2009 figures “are the lowest in California since 2003, the very first year we found West Nile in California,” said John Rusmisel, president of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California. “While West Nile virus is going to be here, maybe (it) will moderate over time.

Pennsylvania  10/02/09  thepittsburghchannel.com:  Health officials with Pennsylvania’s West Nile control program have confirmed four mosquitoes and one bird have tested positive for the disease in the state. One of those positive samples, taken from a mosquito, was found in Allegheny County. The mosquito was collected in Wilkinsburg Borough, health officials said. None of the positive samples came from the Pittsburgh-area. The bird found with West Nile was collected in Springfield Township in Delaware County.

Massachusetts  10/02/09  telegram.com:  State health officials said yesterday eastern equine encephalitis has been found in mosquitoes in Leominster and Webster.  The Department of Public Health raised the threat level from EEE in those two communities from remote to low.  The threat level was raised from moderate to high in several towns south of Boston, including Easton and Raynham.

Massachusetts  10/02/09  newburyportnews.com:  Another positive mosquito test for Eastern equine encephalitis has been found in Amesbury, the Department of Public Health announced yesterday.The mosquito that tested positive for EEE was found on Sept. 23. It is the third positive test found in town. A mosquito has also tested positive  for West Nile in Amesbury. All of the positive samples have been found in the type of mosquito that typically bites birds, not humans.

Of the 57 positive testing pools for EEE found statewide, seven of them have been found in either Amesbury or Merrimac, according to the DPH surveillance Web site.

New Hampshire  10/02/09  seacoastonline.com:  Eastern equine encephalitis was discovered in Exeter and Stratham earlier this week. The Exeter Health Department was informed by the state Department of Health and Human Services on Sept. 28 that a mosquito found on Hobart Street tested positive for EEE. A mosquito pool at 34 Lovell Road near Stratham Memorial School also tested positive for EEE.

California  10/01/09  blogs.pe.com:  The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health has reported its first case of West Nile Virus. A 71-year-old Rancho Cucamonga woman has been hospitalized, said Dr. Maxwell Ohikhuare, the county’s public health officer. He said he suspects the unidentified woman became infected during a recent trip to Northern California, where the woman remembers getting mosquito bites. The woman is expected to recover, Ohikhuare said.

Last week, Riverside County public health officials reported the county’s first human case of the virus — that of a 60-year-old man. The unidentified man, who is from the western part of the county, had been hospitalized and is recovering at home. More than 60 cases have been reported statewide. Earlier this month, state public health officials reported that two men, one from Fresno County and the other from Merced County, had died from the virus.

Connecticut  10/01/09  theday.com:  Mosquitoes trapped in Stonington, Monroe, Newtown, and Plainfield between Sept. 17 and 21 tested positive for eastern equine encephalitis virus, the state Mosquito Management Program announced Wednesday. These are the first EEE-positive mosquitoes identified in these four towns this year. The state also announced that mosquitoes trapped in Madison on Sept. 15 tested positive for West Nile virus.

So far this year, EEE has been confirmed in mosquitoes in 20 Connecticut towns, including Lyme, North Stonington, Old Lyme, Plainfield, Stonington and Voluntown. West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes have been trapped in 12 towns including Old Lyme. To date, no Connecticut residents have been identified with West Nile or EEE infections.

Connecticut  09/30/09  newstimes.com:  Mosquitoes carrying eastern equine encephalitis have been found in Newtown, the state announced Wednesday. “We are finding increased EEE activity throughout eastern and central Connecticut and expect to continue to identify infected mosquitoes through September and October depending on the weather,” Theodore G. Andreadis, chief medical entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, said in a press statement Wednesday. In a year when West Nile virus has been on the wane, researchers at the agricultural experiment station have seen a dramatic increase in mosquitoes with EEE.

Pennsylvania  09/29/09  ydr.inyork.com:  For the fourth time this season, a York County bird has tested positive for West Nile virus. But there’s a slight difference. The first three were crows. This time, a great horned owl collected in Windsor Township on Sept. 23 has tested positive. That’s nothing remarkable, according to Thomas Smith, county coordinator of the West Nile virus program. When it comes to the virus, there’s one flying creature that residents should be primarily concerned about — the mosquito.