Reading To Spray Today After EEE Virus Found

Different parts of Reading will be sprayed Monday and Tuesday after the EEE Virus was detected in mosquitoes collected in a trap on the east side of Reading, the Reading Health Department said.

The state Department of Public Health reported the finding off Haverhill Street on Thursday. The Eastern Middlesex Mosquito Control Project . To find out which night your area will be sprayed check the town's website. The spray contains a pesticide to control mosquitoes and should not put people or pets at risk; however, it is still suggested to allow minimum exposure to the spray.

According to the Boston Herald, this is the first time the EEE virus has been found north of Boston this year, which is "raising fears that the mosquito-borne illness that had so far been contained to southeastern Massachusetts is now spreading."

“This is a bad year,” said State Public Health Veterinarian for the Department of Public Health Catherine Brown in a Herald article. She said that the mild winter and spring increased reproduction.

A mosquito in Topsfield has also been found with the virus, the Herald said. A 60-year-old man from Middlesex County was the only person in Massachusetts diagnosed with the EEE virus this year.