South Brookline Mosquitoes Test Positive for West Nile Virus

Brookline health officials have announced that two mosquitoes captured in South Brookline have tested for West Nile Virus, a potentially deadly disease that causes swelling of the brain and may result in muscle weakness, paralysis and convulsions.

With today's finding, health officials said they now believe the virus is present throughout Brookline. Contractors hired by the town had already started treating catch basins and conservation land to prevent new mosquitoes from hatching, and will continue to test additional insects to monitor how wide-spread the virus is.

"This is the time of year where we're not totally surprise," said Pat Maloney, the town's assistant director of public health. "Right now, the numbers weren't huge, but seeing that they're positive for West Nile puts us on notice."

Maloney is urging residents to take steps to avoid getting bitten, including avoiding the outdoors around dawn and dusk, wearing long-sleeve shirts and using a DEET insect repellent. Homeowners are also advised to drain standing or stagnant water where mosquitoes might breed.

Experts say the period from late July through the fall is when people are most likely to contract the two insect-borne diseases in New England that cause swelling of the brain: West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Both diseases are transmitted from infected birds to humans through mosquitoes and cause severe symptoms.

So far this year, mosquitoes have tested positive for Eastern Equine in the towns of Lakeville and Halifax, and a horse in Middleborough was euthanized after contracting the disease. Three mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile in Brookline in September 2009.

Most people who contract West Nile experience no symptoms and recover on their own, though people over the age of 50 are more likely to experience severe symptoms.  Those infected with Eastern Equine are also more likely to experience severe symptoms, which can include high fever, muscle weakness, headache, disorientation, neck stiffness, paralysis, coma, tremors, convulsions and sometimes death.

For further information, call the Massachusetts Department of Public Health information hotline at 1-866-627-7968, contact the Brookline Health Department or visit the website for the Eastern Middlesex Mosquito Control Project.