EEE Detected in Orange Beach Mosquito Monitoring in 2008

Historical report preserved from an archived 2008 local news story.

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — A chicken kept by health workers as part of Baldwin County’s mosquito-monitoring program tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis in 2008, an archived local news report shows, marking the presence of the mosquito-borne virus in the Orange Beach area that year.

The report said Eastern equine encephalitis could be transmitted to people and horses by mosquitoes, and that horses had vaccines available while no human vaccine existed at the time. The Baldwin County Health Department said it had not detected mosquito-borne viruses in people in the county at that point in 2008.

How sentinel chickens work

Sentinel chickens are a standard mosquito-surveillance tool. Health workers keep the birds at fixed sites and test their blood regularly during mosquito season. A chicken bitten by an infected mosquito develops antibodies without becoming seriously ill and does not carry enough virus to infect other mosquitoes, so a positive test shows that the virus is circulating nearby before people or horses get sick.

That early warning matters because the disease is severe when it reaches people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that roughly a third of people who develop encephalitis from the virus die. There is still no human vaccine, so protection for people depends on avoiding mosquito bites.

This article records a 2008 health update from an archived local news report and is not current medical guidance.