FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2020
Contact: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112
LANSING, Mich. – An additional night of aerial treatment to combat the potentially deadly mosquito-borne Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) has been added to the plan after a Montcalm County resident is suspected to have EEE following preliminary testing, announced the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).
Additional treatment blocks in Montcalm County (4-4) and Ionia and Montcalm (10-2) counties have been added to the plan and are slated for treatment tonight. These additional treatment areas have also been added to address the location of a deer previously determined to have the virus. These blocks are identified in the Aerial Treatment Zones Map. This completes treatment of high-risk areas of the state, where EEE has been identified.
Schedules are weather dependent and may change. More than 436,000 acres have been treated to date.
“MDHHS will continue to monitor the situation and treatment zones could be added if new cases of EEE are found,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. “Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. As we do not have consecutive days of a hard frost in the forecast, we urge residents to continue taking precautions against mosquito bites.”
Currently, confirmed cases of EEE include a Barry County resident and 32 animals - 30 equine and two deer. Impacted counties are Allegan, Barry, Calhoun, Clare, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kent, Livingston, Mecosta, Montcalm, Newaygo and Oakland.
Please refer to the County-level Aerial Treatment Maps for more details of the identified zones’ locations.
For more information about EEE, visit Michigan.gov/EEE.
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