A tick-borne virus that can make people’s brains swell has been found in a horse in Maine.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention says this is the third pet in Maine this year to get eastern equine encephalitis.
The horse got the virus, which is also called Triple-E, in Somerset County. It has also spread to two tame emus and a wild bird.
The Maine CDC says that this year there have been more viruses spread by mosquitoes in Maine.
In the past few weeks, more than a dozen birds have been found in Bangor, Bar Harbor, Bridgton, Fryeburg, Parsonsfield, Portland, Sidney, and Yarmouth with the West Nile virus.
The Jamestown Canyon virus has been found in four mosquito pools in this area, one of which is in Orono.
People and tourists to Maine should take steps to protect themselves whenever they go outside because of these positive cases of EEE and West Nile virus, Maine CDC Director Puthiery Va said in a statement on Friday.
“Avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes as much as possible to protect yourself, your family, and your pets from these dangerous viruses.”
This year, no people have been infected with the viruses. However, last month, a person in New Hampshire died after getting eastern equine encephalitis. This was the first human infection in that state in ten years.
No one can give the viruses to another person or to an animal. The Maine CDC says that they can only be spread by the bite of a sick mosquito.
People who get these viruses from mosquitoes often have flu-like symptoms, but more serious symptoms include brain swelling and inflammation of the spinal cord.