A 7-year-old girl in Alabama tragically passed away after contracting a mosquito-borne virus that causes life-threatening brain swelling.
The unidentified second grader contracted the eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus, a rare illness that claims the lives of up to one in three infected individuals.
This marks the first reported death from the virus in Alabama this year, with a previous case also detected in Spanish Fort, a Gulf Coast city in the state.
While horses in New York have tested positive for the virus this year, there have been no human cases reported.
These EEE cases follow several instances of locally transmitted malaria and two cases of Jamestown Canyon virus, both transmitted by mosquitoes, in Florida, Texas, and Michigan respectively.
The girl, who has not been named, contracted eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) from a mosquito bite — a rare virus that kills up to one in three of those it infects. Mosquitoes pick up the virus from birds (stock image)
Alabama’s Department of Public Health announced the tragic death of the young girl, revealing that the infection occurred over the past few weeks.
The second EEE patient in Spanish Fort was also infected around the same time.
EEE is an extremely rare disease in the US, with only about 11 cases reported each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The virus is transmitted to mosquitoes when they bite infected birds
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Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
