An older man in Chittenden County died in September after he was infected with eastern equine encephalitis virus from a mosquito bite.
He was in 70s, and was hospitalized in late August, according to a Department of Health press release.
It’s the first confirmed death from the disease in Vermont since 2012, and the third reported in the region this year — following the deaths of a 41-year-old man from Hampstead, New Hampshire, near the seacoast, and a New York resident from Ulster County, along the Hudson River.
There have been 16 confirmed human cases in the U.S. this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The health department says the risk of infection is much lower than it was in August.
"Mosquito activity certainly lessens when temps are below 60 degrees, and below about 50 degrees, mosquitoes are not very active at all," Patsy Kelso, the state epidemiologist, told Vermont Public last month.
But Vermonters should still take precautions against mosquito bites until the first hard local frost by limiting time outdoors during dawn and dusk, using bug spray, wearing long sleeves and pants, and removing standing water from properties, according to public health officials.
And residents in high risk areas are strongly advised to limit their time outside after dark until freezing temperatures. That includes the towns of Alburgh, Burlington, Colchester, Salisbury, Sudbury, Swanton, and Whiting.
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