If there is one time of year to break out the bug spray, it’s Labor Day weekend. “This is the prime time — the last week of August and the first week of September — when West Nile usually peaks nationally ,” said Dr. Erin Staples, a mosquito expert and medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“People need to be using their insect repellent right now.” Mosquito-borne viruses are making their rounds across the country, sometimes with devastating effects. According to the CDC, 289 cases of West Nile virus have been logged so far in 2024.
A majority of those patients, 195, developed severe neurological problems like inflammation of the brain or paralysis. At least 18 died. “This is the time of year when cases of West Nile virus rapidly increase,” Staples said.
While it’s too early in the season to compare this year with others, she said, “some areas like Texas and New York City are seeing a lot of activity.” Another virus spread by mosquitoes, Eastern equine encephalitis, is less widespread but deadlier. This month, a 41-year-old New Hampshire man without any underlying medical problems died of EEE.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are,” Staples said. EEE “can, unfortunately, kill.” A handful of other cases of EEE have been detected in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Among people with severe symptoms related to EEE, nearly a third will die. The mortality rate among people with similarly serious Wes.