An eighth person has contracted the rare and potentially deadly eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, virus, in Massachusetts this year, state health officials said Friday.
The latest case is a man in his 50s from northeastern Bristol County, according to a release from the Department of Public Health.
This week, the state confirmed the first death linked to EEE this year. A EEE-related death was also reported in Rhode Island this week.
There are 35 communities across Massachusetts at critical risk of the mosquito-borne virus, with 38 more at high risk of it in the first outbreak since 2010-2012.
See this map for more information on risk levels across the state. Hear from a New Hampshire family still crushed from losing a loved one to EEE years ago.
The mosquito-borne virus affects the nervous system and kills about three in 10 people who contract it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State and local officials have ordered spraying in order to combat mosquito populations and therefore supress the virus' transmission to people.
