Cold Raw Weather Not Enough To Wipe Out EEE Threat
BOSTON (CBS) - The Nor'easter-like weather conditions this week had high school football fans wondering if they can turn on the Friday night lights again. In light of this season's threat of EEE and West Nile Virus, many cities and towns in Massachusetts moved Friday night games to Saturday afternoons. Some are even considering changing Halloween.
Bad news: we're not out of the woods yet. "We need about four hours of temperatures below 24 degrees Fahrenheit," said entomologist Kaitlyn O'Donnell.
That's something that hasn't hit Massachusetts yet. She trapped her last sample of mosquito larvae this week, and says statewide, some pools tested positive. "So that shows that the virus is still out there," O'Donnell said.
On the upside, she said the wind and cold weather does slow down mosquitoes, but it doesn't kill them. "You still have to be careful but the risk is kind of dropping because you don't have as much activity and we're hopefully almost there with the hard frost," she said.
Thursday, state health officials announced a third Massachusetts resident was diagnosed with West Nile. There were 12 EEE cases, and three deaths.