How Terrified Should We All Be About EEE?

Earlier this week, New York State health officials announced the death of an Ulster County man after he contracted eastern equine encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness last detected in a New Yorker in 2015. EEE is fatal in 30 percent of human cases, there is no vaccine, and those who survive often face serious, long-term health effects. Every year, mosquitoes in at least two or three counties test positive for EEE, but so far this year, mosquitoes in 15 counties have tested positive.