Mosquito EEE Scare Prompts Many Southwest Michigan Schools To Adjust Evening Activities
Several southwest Michigan schools have announced adjustments to outdoor evening activities due to the recent increase in deadly cases of the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis virus.
The changes range from moving, rescheduling or even cancelling events. It follows recent recommendations from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Several athletic directors and superintendents told WWMT that the virus was on their radar and that school officials were having discussions about what to do, including moving some games to earlier in the day. The state health department is encouraging people avoid being outside at dusk and during the evening when mosquitoes are most active.
So far, no changes to athletic events in Calhoun or Eaton counties have been made, as they are not affected areas at this time. Eight counties in Michigan have had EEE cases confirmed including Cass, Barry, Berrien, Kalamazoo, St. Joesph and Van Buren in southwest Michigan. Other cases have been confirmed in Genesee and Lapeer counties.