Louisiana monitoring mosquito-borne illnesses as cases emerge in Northeast
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Health officials in the Northeast are monitoring mosquito-borne illnesses, including eastern equine encephalitis, which killed a New Hampshire resident earlier this week.
Why it matters: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called mosquitos "the world's deadliest animal" for a reason. But Louisiana is a mosquito hotspot so health officials here already consistently monitor for the diseases.
The big picture: An EEE infection was found in Louisiana as early as 2015, but government health officials warned only five years ago that EEE was an "emergent threat" in the U.S. after cases were discovered across New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
- New England states are again on high alert after EEE cases in humans began popping up earlier this year, first in Massachusetts. There are no vaccines or specific viral treatments for the rare and potentially deadly disease.
- Meanwhile, West Nile virus is also making headlines in the Mid-Atlantic after former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci was hospitalized with the disease.
Zoom in: Louisiana health officials routinely test mosquito pools in parishes with mosquito abatement programs, according to a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Health.
- The state is known to see four types of encephalitis, according to the health department, including West Nile, Saint Louis, eastern equine and California encephalitis.
By the numbers: Eastern equine infections were found in one Orleans Parish mosquito pool in all of 2023, the only one in the state that year. One person, in Terrebonne Parish, contracted the disease, according to health department reports.
- West Nile infections were far more common here, with 765 mosquito pools testing positive statewide, and 65 people with confirmed or assumed cases, data shows. Four people died from West Nile in the state last year.
- So far in 2024, state health data shows that EEE has only been found in three horses. West Nile remains the most infectious mosquito-borne illness, with 268 pools testing positive, 23 people infected and one death.
Threat level: West Nile season typically lasts through November, the health department says.
- People over 50 are typically most at-risk. Most cases are asymptomatic, but some people experience flu-like symptoms.
- The rarest infections turn into West Nile neuroinvasive disease, which causes symptoms like severe headaches, disorientation, stiff neck and muscle weakness.
The bottom line: Mosquitos are a threat, but that's nothing new here in our neck of the woods. If you're going to be outside, especially during heavy mosquito periods like dusk, as always, cover up and use bug spray.