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SUDBURY, MA — For the first time this summer, Eastern equine encephalitis has been found in mosquitoes in Middlesex County.
The town of Pepperell confirmed the positive tests Friday. However, the state Department of Public Health has not raised the EEE risk level in the MetroWest area.
Mosquitoes with EEE were first detected this summer in Orange and Athol. Since then, the state raised the risk level to "moderate" in western Worcester County. The risk level on Monday was "high" in Carver and Middleborough in Plymouth County — typically a hotspot for the disease.
Eighteen mosquito samples have been positive for EEE this summer and 19 for West Nile virus.
Mosquito control crews will be out in several local towns this week for spraying. Truck-mounted spraying will be done in Sudbury, Reading and Burlington, according to the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project. The Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control District will spray in Milford, Natick, Marlborough and Worcester this week.
No humans or animals in Massachusetts have tested positive for EEE this summer.
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