HARTFORD, Conn. — The first case of Eastern equine encephalitis or EEE, in a domestic animal was detected in a 10-year-old male emu in Windham County, officials announced Friday.
The emu had been exhibiting neurological signs when it died and diagnostic samples tested by the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Connecticut in Storrs were positive for EEE.
“This detection highlights the importance of vaccinations and continued precautions that owners should undertake to protect their animals from mosquito-borne illnesses,” said Dr. Jane Lewis, a state veterinarian. “Horses are the domestic animals most susceptible to infection with mosquito-borne illnesses such as EEE.”
EEE is not spread by horse-to-horse or horse-to-human contact. It is a viral disease transmitted through the bites of mosquitoes. Mosquitos infected with EEE have been detected in Hampton, Killingly, Thompson, Tolland, Voluntown, and Woodstock this year.
“Although mosquito numbers are declining with the onset of cool weather, we continue to detect EEE virus in communities in eastern Connecticut,” said Dr. Philip Armstrong, medical entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. “There is continued risk for mosquito-borne diseases until the first hard freeze when mosquito activity ends.”
Meanwhile, the West Nile Virus has been found in mosquitoes in 33 Connecticut towns this season.
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