UTILIZATION OF RESTING
BOXES FOR EEE EVALUATION IN SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Priscilla Matton & Wayne Andrews
Bristol County MCP
140 North Walker St.
Taunton, MA 02780
ABSTRACT
Surveillance for Eastern
Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in 2008 began very slow and uneventful in Bristol
County. Extremely small numbers of Cs.
melanura were being collected from our traps in areas of past EEE
isolations and high populations. The
season picked up dramatically in September when high levels of Cs. melanura were collected for virus
testing and blood-meal identifications. The recorded highest number of
blood-fed specimens where found in the first week of September to the end of
the month. This presentation will
discuss the population data collected from the 2007 and 2008 season.
Resting boxes were placed
outside the Bolton Cedar Swamp in Freetown.
Cs. melanura, both blood-fed
and non-blooded, were collected and/or tested for West Nile virus and EEE. In a
collaborative project with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station,
blood-fed Cs. melanura were handled
separately for blood meal identification. To reduce time collecting from
resting boxes, we built a new aspirator from an old Beecomist Sprayer. This
eliminates the need for harsh chemicals and reduces time in the field exposed
to infected mosquitoes.
Massachusetts Department of
Public Health - William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute was able to
isolate 3 positive EEE pools of non-blood fed Cs. melanura from the resting box collections. Over 260 blood-fed
specimens were accumulated mostly from late season collections. An overview of the area and events as the
season progressed will show how this area was in the epicenter of the 2008 EEE
activity.