The state is advising Mainers to protect themselves from mosquito bites after identifying additional cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in four counties.
It’s the first year Maine has reported EEE, West Nile virus and the Jamestown Canyon virus in the same season, according to the state agriculture department.
The mosquito-borne diseases can cause fever and flu-like symptoms or more severe illnesses such as encephalitis, meningitis and death.
No human cases have been reported this year.
The new cases of EEE were found in several emu flocks and multiple horses in Piscataquis, Penobscot, Somerset and Waldo counties. It’s also been found in Kennebec County.
A West Nile Virus case was identified in a horse in York County.
In late August, mosquitoes in southern Maine tested positive for Jamestown Canyon virus, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mainers are advised to wear long sleeves and long pants outdoors, use an EPA-approved repellent, take extra precautions at dawn and dusk and use screens on windows and doors.
Horse owners are advised to vaccinate against EEE and West Nile virus, although there’s no vaccine available for Jamestown Canyon virus.
Despite the coming frost that will kill the mosquitoes, that state issued the warning because “the current risk persists in multiple state regions,” according to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.