EEE threat restricts use of Blackstone fields

Board of Health: Outdoor activities from dusk until dawn on municipal properties canceled

BLACKSTONE — The town of Blackstone is restricting use of all town athletic fields and parks due to heightened concern for the Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus.

Effective immediately, all outdoor activities from dusk until dawn on municipal properties have been canceled until further notice.

The Blackstone Board of Health issued a public health notice Monday, saying all town fields and parks – including Roosevelt Park, Turbesi Park, Goulet Field and the Attilio Valati Nature Park – will be closed from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. The restricted hours will remain in effect until the town issues an official notification that the health risk has subsided.

The Blackstone announcement comes the same day state health officials confirmed that a Massachusetts woman – the fourth person in the state to contract EEE – died from the mosquito-borne illness. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Sunday that lab testing confirmed the woman, whom they described as over age 50, had contracted the disease.

Twenty-three communities in Massachusetts are currently designated at critical risk for EEE. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources was scheduled to aerially spray parts of Worcester and Middlesex counties on Sunday in the latest attempts to help kill mosquitoes and reduce public risk.

As a result of the elevated risk in several communities, the spray zone has been expanded. The additional communities either partially or fully in the spray zone are Blackstone, Douglas, Dudley, Holliston, Hopedale, Mendon, Millville, Oxford, Uxbridge and Webster.

As a precaution, Blackstone town officials had the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control project come to town last week to spray fields and parks after the Department of Public Health announced the confirmation of the third human case of EEE virus infection in a male over the age of 60 who was exposed to the virus in northern Franklin County. In addition, one horse from Mendon and one horse from Uxbridge also tested positive for the EEE virus last week,

raising the risk level to critical in two additional communities in Worcester County.

As a result, four additional communities have been elevated to critical risk - Heath and Colrain in Franklin County, and Mendon and Uxbridge in Worcester County. In total across Massachusetts, there are 23 communities now at critical risk, 22 at high risk, and 52 at moderate risk for the EEE virus.

EEE is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease that can affect people of all ages. All residents throughout the Commonwealth should continue to use mosquito repellent and those in high and critical risk communities should consider staying indoors during the dusk to dawn hours to reduce exposure to mosquitoes.

“We are seeing the most intense level of EEE activity that we have in several years. The largest area is in Bristol and Plymouth Counties with a second focus of activity in parts of Worcester and Middlesex Counties,” said Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel. “We are urging people across the state to remember that the peak time for transmission of mosquito-borne illness extends through September here in Massachusetts.”

Residents are encouraged to visit the DPH website for the latest updates on spraying in their communities.