Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Colorized electron microscope image of mosquito salivary gland tissue infected by the EEE virus (in red). Photo: Fred Murphy, Sylvia Whitfield/CDC
Public health officials on Wednesday declared the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus to be an "emergent threat" in the U.S. after an unusually high number of cases have occurred so far this year.
Why it matters: While EEE remains rare, there are no vaccines or specific viral treatments available. The virus can attack the brain and sometimes cause death.
"It's interesting, because something like between 1831 and 1959, there were around 13 total cases documented. But, for the first time this year, there's at least 36."— Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, to Axios
Background: EEE is a member of the alphavirus family, which tends to attack the brain. The virus is spread mainly by Culiseta melanura mosquitoes and various tree-perching birds found in forested wetlands, but it can circulate in small mammals, reptiles or amphibians as well, per the NIAID.
- C. melanura mosquitoes don't usually bite people, but occasionally a mosquito that does, like the Aedes aegypti mosquito, will bite an infected bird and then transmit the virus to a person.
- While human infections are rare and most people (96%) don't show symptoms, the death rate for those who do experience symptoms is "really high," at around 35% mortality while many others suffer permanent and severe neurologic damage, Fauci says.
- Researchers do not know yet why the virus is sometimes able to breach the blood-brain barrier and cause damage, Fauci adds.
The latest: As of Nov. 19, there have been 36 confirmed cases and 14 deaths from EEE virus disease in eight states, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These were in: Connecticut (4), Indiana (1), Massachusetts (12), Michigan (10), North Carolina (1), New Jersey (4), Rhode Island (3), and Tennessee (1).
- In a perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine published Wednesday, NIAID officials including Fauci catalogue the threat of the growing spread of vector-borne illnesses (from mosquitos or ticks) to humans, like EEE.
- Four vector-borne human illnesses "have evolved" so that they now infect the A. aegypti mosquito, which feeds mostly on humans, the authors point out. These are dengue, yellow fever, Zika and chikungunya.
Threat level: "You don't want the Aedes to adapt to that [EEE virus]," Fauci says. It hasn't happened yet, he points out, but researchers are "keeping an eye on it."
What's next: Some CDC officials earlier this year called for a national defense strategy to coordinate health responses to all vector-borne illnesses.
- There's also an EEE virus vaccine under development by the U.S. Army that's currently in a clinical trial.
Go deeper: Earth faces mass extinctions