OLD LYME — The following e-mail was sent out from Old Lyme Town Hall at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday evening.
A message from First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder:
Today we learned that a resident of Old Lyme has become the second victim of the mosquito-borne illness, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, or the Triple-E virus. The Town of Old Lyme sends heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim. While we do not have the identity of the person at this time, I am sure that the loss is felt by all of the residents of Old Lyme.
Many have asked what the Town is doing with this threat in mind, so here is an update:
The Selectman’s Office has been in regular contact with Ledge Light Health District, has participated in scheduled conference calls with the State Dept. of Public Health, which provides updates on tests and recommendations, and is following all of the recommendations to date. The next conference call is scheduled for this Thursday.
Since Friday of last week, we have warned all outdoor sports activities to end by 5:30 PM (which may get earlier as the days grow shorter) and warned people to move indoors well before dusk.
We post all updates from Ledge Light Health District on our website.
The Town currently contracts with Innovative Mosquito to manage our plan to address nuisance mosquitos, which are primarily daytime-biting mosquitos. We regularly use non-chemical dunks in our catch basins, and monitor the mosquito population along the marshland of the shoreline neighborhoods. When warranted, backpack adulticide spraying is done to reduce the population. But these daytime-biting mosquitos have not tested positive for EEE virus. It is the night time mosquitos that have tested positive, and so far, none of the mosquitos tested from Old Lyme have been positive for the virus.
With the latest victim from Old Lyme, our contractor has increased trapping in the freshwater areas of town to assess the population, and the State Dept. of Agriculture has done the same, testing those caught for the virus. Those results are not yet available, but based on the outcome, recommendations will be made and followed by us.
If spraying is recommended, we will follow up immediately, and are prepared to do so.
We continue to stay in touch with our Health District and the State Dept. of Health, and will follow all recommendations that they give us.
We urge all residents to take this threat seriously, and take all precautions to avoid mosquitos.
Once again, our heartfelt condolences are sent to the family whose loved one has succumbed to this tragic illness.
A hard frost is needed to kill off this years EEE infected mosquitos. State and town leadership is telling us to stay inside and coverup. But, we are experiencing increasingly warm Winters.
Our first hard frost last year was on November 21 & November 22.
We don’t know when the first hard frost will occur this year, but anticipating a solution to a serious health threat in 60 days is very questionable leadership.
Ray: Your conclusion that the Town’s actions and precautions regarding EEE ” is very questionable leadership” is spurious. Old Lyme’s response reflects both current science and recommendations by both CT DPH and Ledge Light Health District. The average first hard frost for Zone 7 (that’s us) occurs between October 1 and 10.
I’m not certain what point you are actually making. Are you suggesting that Old Lyme leadership is violating meteorological principles? Perhaps you should share your better recommendations for combatting this problem with the Town.