You should try to reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes. If EEE is found in your area:
- Minimize time spent outdoors around dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
- If outdoor activity is unavoidable be sure to use insect repellent and cover bare skin.
- Be sure door and window screens are tight-fitting and in good repair.
- Wear shoes, socks, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt when outdoors for long periods of time. Clothing should be light-colored and made of tightly woven materials that keep mosquitoes away from the skin.
- Use of mosquito repellent, according to label instructions, when it is necessary to be outdoors.
The Department of Public Health (DPH) continues to advise against unnecessary trips into mosquito breeding grounds such as marshes as the mosquitoes that transmit EEE virus are associated with freshwater swamps. Overnight camping or other substantial outdoor exposure in freshwater swamps in Connecticut should also be avoided.
DPH also cautions that even though temperatures are getting cooler, mosquitoes will continue to be active until the first heavy frost. It remains important to continue to take measures to prevent mosquito bites.
Click HERE to read the Governor's full press release.
For information on what can be done to prevent getting bitten by mosquitoes and the latest mosquito test results and human infections, visit the Connecticut Mosquito Management Program web site at
portal.ct.gov/mosquito.
For more information about EEE prevention, visit the
CDC website.