Rare Mosquito-Borne Disease Triggers Voluntary Curfew in Massachusetts Towns

Four towns in central Massachusetts are advising residents to stay indoors at night to avoid contracting a rare but potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus. The voluntary curfew notice was issued after the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Aug. 16 announced the first confirmed human case of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in the state since 2020, when five people contracted the virus and one died. State officials didn’t report how the current patient, a man in his 80s in Worcester County, was exposed to the virus or the details of his current condition. The disease, described by the public health department as “rare but serious,” is caused by a virus transmitted through mosquito bites. Symptoms typically appear 5 to 10 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito and include high fever, stiff neck, headache, and fatigue....