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8.30.2000 00:37
Eastern equine encephalitis
discovered in dead blue jay
A dead blue jay found in North Providence on Aug. 23 has tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis, but there is little public health threat, state Department of Environmental Management officials said yesterday.
It was the first case of the disease reported in Rhode Island this year. In Norton, Mass., six emus died from the virus two weeks ago.
A Rhode Island DEM official said there are no plans to spray pesticides to combat the mosquitoes that carry the Eastern equine encephalitis virus.
"We are treating this more conservatively than West Nile virus," said Malcolm Grant, associate DEM director for natural resources. "There is a big difference between West Nile and EEE."
Twenty years of trapping and testing mosquitoes, Grant said, have shown that EEE infection is almost always limited to mosquito species that do not bite humans. For example, during the last outbreak of EEE in Rhode Island, in 1998, all of the evidence pointed to mosquitoes that bit birds exclusively.
West Nile virus, by contrast, is more easily spread from mosquitoes to humans, Grant said.
The infected blue jay was found near the intersection of Route 146 and Mineral Spring Avenue.
The DEM will increase mosquito trapping and testing, Grant said. Additional testing will take place in North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, Lincoln and Smithfield. The mosquitoes will be tested at the University of Rhode Island and results are expected next week.
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