Eleven people have now died this year in the worst outbreak of a mosquito-borne illness this country has seen in decades.
It’s called Eastern equine encephalitis or triple E.
It’s a virus transmitted by mosquitoes through a mosquito bite that can cause a rare brain infection and sometimes death.
Scientists are now working to figure out why the disease is spiking and what can be done about it.
At least thirty people have become ill in six states this year after being bitten by mosquitoes carrying triple E.
Eleven of them have died.
Finding the answers as to why the widespread spike starts with catching mosquitoes with traps.
The mosquitoes are then taken back to the lab where they are frozen, separated by species then ground up and tested for the presence of triple E.
The results inform state officials about next steps on how to combat the disease.
The threat from mosquitoes will not end until the first frost of the season kills them.
For many states that’s still a couple weeks away.
The Closed Caption version of this video can be found here: https://sign1news.com/2019/10/03/sign1news-10-3-19/
Sign1News is the first and only digital network, partnered with world news leader CNN, to offer on-line news and information in American Sign Language. Sign1News provides equal access to local, regional and national news and information to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community via a daily post-produced broadcast. Sign1News: Your Life. Your Language.