Mosquitoes transmit Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus, potentially fatal diseases.
Cases of encephalitis have occurred in recent years mainly in Southeastern Massachusetts. The West Nile virus, which broke out last year in the New York City area, has been recorded in Columbia County, N.Y., adjacent to Berkshire County in Massachusetts. But Michael W. McGuill, a public health veterinarian with the state Department of Public Health, says it still is too early to know very much about this year's mosquito population. You can't know that until later in the summer. It depends on the amount of rain we get.