Maine School Sprayed for Triple E

The school arranged for the campus to be cleared the following Tuesday for a 4:30 p.m. spraying of the tree line surrounding the playground.

After the reported death of a horse in Maine due to Eastern Equine Encephalitis (Triple E), Hanson School in Lebanon in September scheduled a spraying of the playground perimeter.

According to a notice from Donald E. Hoenig, state veterinarian and director of the Division of Animal Health and Industry with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Triple E is a virus transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, and people and horses can both contract the virus in this manner. The virus can only be transmitted through a mosquito bite and is not transmitted through direct contact between people and horses, Hoenig said.

Colwell said she wanted people to be aware that Triple E is something that affects people, as well as horses, and that people need to be careful about their contact with mosquitoes.

In a statement posted on the state of Maine website, www.maine.gov, Dora Anne Mills, public health director of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said symptoms of Triple E in humans usually appear four to 10 days after a bite and range from mild flu-like illness to encephalitis, coma and death. The Triple E fatality rate is about 35 to 50 percent, and 35 percent of people who survive have mild to severe neurological deficits, Mills said.

Landscape Professionals place themselves in greater danger, and those over 50 years old and younger than 15 are at greatest risk for developing severe disease, Mills said.

Mills advised wearing long sleeves and pants, as well as applying DEET-containing repellant, to reduce the risk of mosquito bites.

Source: fosters.com