Mosquito-Borne Illness Leaves Father-of-Four Fighting for Life

Joe Casey, a 54-year-old man from New Hamp­shire, is fight­ing for his life after being bit­ten by a mos­qui­to and test­ing pos­i­tive for three mos­qui­to-borne virus­es, includ­ing the rare and dead­ly East­ern Equine Encephali­tis (EEE).

Surge in Mosquito-Borne Diseases in New England

This inci­dent comes amid a surge in con­cerns over mos­qui­to-borne dis­eases in the New Eng­land region. Sev­er­al coun­ties in Mass­a­chu­setts have issued night-time cur­few warn­ings to pro­tect against virus­es trans­mit­ted by mos­qui­toes, and cities across the US are spray­ing pes­ti­cides to deter the increas­ing­ly dis­ease-rid­den insects.

Deadly Mosquito-Borne Illnesses

EEE is a rare but often dead­ly virus, with up to a third of patients dying from the infec­tion. The virus quick­ly spreads to the brain, caus­ing inflam­ma­tion and severe neu­ro­log­i­cal symp­toms. There are also no spe­cif­ic vac­cines or treat­ments available.

Oth­er mos­qui­to-borne ill­ness­es affect­ing the region include the West Nile virus and St. Louis encephali­tis. While less dead­ly than EEE, these virus­es can still lead to seri­ous com­pli­ca­tions and long-term dis­abil­i­ties in some cases.

The recent surge in mos­qui­to-borne dis­eases has led to increased efforts by pub­lic health offi­cials to com­bat the prob­lem, includ­ing wide­spread pes­ti­cide spray­ing and pub­lic aware­ness cam­paigns. How­ev­er, the threat remains, and cas­es like Joe Casey’s serve as a stark reminder of the dan­gers posed by these dead­ly viruses.