A child has died in Baldwin County after being bitten by mosquito infected with EEE

By Brendan Kirby

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    SPANISH FORT, Alabama (WALA) — A little girl who died and a man who became sick in Baldwin County both were victims of an exceptionally rare mosquito-borne disease – eastern equine encephalitis.

There is not treatment, cure – or good way to predict who might be struck.

“In general, it is just bad luck,” said Dr. Wes Stubblefield, regional medical officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health. ‘And that’s why we want to focus on prevention more than anything.”

State health officials did not identify the EEE victims, but Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan said one was from inside city limits and one lived outside. He said Spanish Fort spends about $8,000 going after mosquitoes from April to October.

“We spray every mile in our city limits, every week,” he said. “You know, we’ve had some people ask us why don’t we spray every day for every mile? Well, it becomes in affected when you spray that often.”

Cases of EEE are rare, and Stubblefield said most people who contract the virus never know it. Mild symptoms can include fever, chills and joint pain. But he said about 5 percent of those who do development serous symptoms, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes and even coma

Stubblefield said among those who development significant symptoms, the mortality rate is about 30 percent.

“Not everyone who gets bitten by a mosquito and contracts this virus has severe symptoms, but of those that do, these symptoms can be very, very severe, even life-threatening,” he said.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded just 189 human EEE cases from 2003 until last year, with 169 hospitalizations and 78 deaths. Until these two Baldwin cases, CDC had reported just one case this year, in Louisiana. Alabama hadn’t had a case since 2019

Alabama’s eight reported cases from 2003 to last year have been concentrated in the coastal counties.

Health officials are preaching precaution, such as using insect repellents, and wearing long sleeves and pants whenever possible.

McMillan said the city on Monday placed mosquito traps in various locations identify the species of mosquitos that are in Spanish Fort. He asked people to remove standing water.

“Little things like magnolia leaves,” he said. “You know, they have a tendency to fall, and they turn over, and they hold water.”

Stubblefield said getting rid of standing water is good advice for the prevention of many mosquito-borne viruses – but will not do much to stop EEE.

“These mosquitoes that carry this particular virus are not the same ones that that breed in water containers in your yard,” he said.

Ian Gilson, a veterinarian who was enjoying the outdoors in nearby Daphne on Monday, said he is concerned but trying to keep the risk in perspective.

“I’m concerned because we are in an area where it’s swampland,” he said. “There’s water, standing water everywhere, even when it’s a drought. … It is very, very rare.”

Stubblefield acknowledged that preventing mosquito bites in the Alabama summer can seem like an uphill battle.

“It’s difficult,” he said. “You know, mosquitoes, they like the warm, you know, warm Southern weather,” he said. “And so we’ve seen these diseases slowly migrate north.”

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