Maine EEE victim likely from York County border town

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's Center for Disease Control announced on Tuesday that a York County resident has died of Eastern equine encephalitis, making it the first death from the rare mosquito-borne disease in Maine.

The person, whose home town and name were not released, is older than 65, the center said.

The individual got sick in late September and was hospitalized in New Hampshire on Sept. 30, so it is likely they were from a border town.

Since the disease is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito and there are no active mosquitoes in the state, there is no current risk for Maine residents, said Dr. Siiri Bennett, the state epidemiologist.

Maine's first human case of EEE was recorded in 2014 in an elderly York County resident who was treated and later recovered.

The Center for Disease Control said that this year one mosquito pool tested positive for EEE in Maine, compared with 22 last year.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire has had 15 cases since 2004, five of them fatal. In 2014 there were three known cases, two of which were fatal.

EEE is a rare but serious disease caused by a virus and spread by infected mosquitoes. The disease most commonly affects people and horses, but illness has been reported in other animals including alpacas, llamas, donkeys, pheasants and emus.