West Nile Virus Risk Elevated In 10 MA Towns: State

The risk of catching the potentially fatal West Nile virus has increased in 10 Massachusetts town, the state's Department of Public Health reported.

West Nile virus "findings in mosquitoes have accelerated rapidly over the last several weeks,” Catherine M. Brown, an epidemiologist for the state said in a media release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

“We are now in the peak time for transmission of mosquito-borne disease to people and it is important for people to know that so they can take steps to protect themselves,” Brown said.

Ongoing evidence of mosquito samples carrying the West Nile virus shows an elevated risk of catching the potentially deadly ailment in Acton, Bedford, Billerica, Boston, Brookline, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Lowell and Newton, according to the department of public health.

"The State Public Health Laboratory confirmed the first WNV-positive mosquitoes in Massachusetts this year on June 17," the release said. "Since then, there have been 168 WNV-positive mosquito samples detected from Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester counties. There has also been one animal case of WNV confirmed this year in a goat in Lunenburg. No human cases of WNV have been confirmed in Massachusetts so far this year."

About one of 150 infected with West Nile virus "develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Infection.

The CDC recommended reducing the risk of mosquito bites.

Related:

• Potentially Fatal Virus Detected In MA Mosquitoes: MDPH
• Rhode Island Finds 1st West Nile Sample Of 2025
• Rhode Island's 2nd West Nile Sample of 2025 Spotted In Bristol: State