Of immediate concern is the migration of West Nile Virus to our area. The virus normally occurs in bird populations and, if mosquito populations grow very large, may be transmitted to other species. North Carolina averages about one human case each year. About fifty percent of human EEE cases are fatal, with young children and the elderly most at risk. In North Carolina, this disease is more likely to occur in coastal or eastern Piedmont areas late in the summer or early fall.
Symptoms can develop from a few days to two weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
They include rapid onset of fever and headache and can resemble a case of the flu. Survivors of EEE infections may suffer from long-term effects to the nervous system. Therapy is limited to treating the symptoms of the disease, but there is no specific cure. There is a vaccine for horses but not for humans. In North Carolina, the disease occurs mainly in the western part of the state.