By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

The Marquette County Health Department (MCHD) reported Eastern Equine Encephalitis in a ruffed grouse. This is the 4th case reported in a ruffed grouse in the UP in recent years.

Image/David Benbennick

The presence of EEE in wild bird populations is a strong indication that EEE is carried by local mosquitos in Marquette County and throughout the U.P., health officials note.

Officials urge residents to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that EEE is one of the most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases in the United States, with a 33 percent fatality rate in people who become ill and a 90 percent fatality rate in horses that become ill. People can become infected with the EEE virus from the bite of a mosquito carrying the virus. It cannot be transmitted person to person or horse to person or deer to person.

Early symptoms of EEE include the sudden onset of headache, high fever, chills, body and joint aches.
Symptoms usually appear 4-10 days after exposure. EEE can develop into severe encephalitis (brain swelling), resulting in headache, disorientation, tremors, seizures and paralysis. Permanent brain damage, coma and death may also occur in some cases.

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