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How to repel mosquitoes
Check out some mosquito repellents just in time for the summer.
A person in New Hampshire has died after contracting the eastern equine encephalitis virus.
EEE is a rare disease transmitted by mosquitoes; only 11 human cases are reported annually on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several people, horses and mosquitoes around the Northeast have tested positive for the disease this summer.
A resident of Hampstead, New Hampshire was hospitalized due to severe central nervous system disease and passed away due to the illness, according to a Tuesday release from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The department declined to release the identity or time of death of the individual.
“We believe there is an elevated risk for (EEE) infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified,” New Hampshire state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said in the release. “The risk will continue into the fall until there is a hard frost that kills the (mosquitoes). Everybody should take steps to prevent mosquito bites when they are outdoors.”
‘Take extra precautions’: Massachusetts towns warn about rare, lethal mosquito-borne virus
While EEE is rare, roughly 30% of cases end in death, and many survivors have ongoing neurologic issues, according to the CDC. The virus is most common around Eastern or Gulf Coast states, and researchers have also warned that climate change is giving rise to mosquitoes as they thrive in warm, humid weather.
The CDC has identified four human EEE cases in 2024, in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont. The agency did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for updated tracking in light of the New Hampshire case.
EEE has also been found in horses or mosquitoes in several other states including Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Officials in some counties have urged residents to take precautions, and a Massachusetts town even closed public parks and fields from dusk until dawn.
Massachusetts’ most recent outbreak began in 2019 and left six dead.
Eastern equine encephalitis is spread to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. The virus can cause a fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes, and drowsiness, according to the CDC.
Most people infected with eastern equine encephalitis do not develop symptoms, the CDC said. People of all ages are susceptible to infection, but people over 50 and younger than 15 are at greatest risk.
There is no treatment or vaccine for EEE, but people in high-risk areas can protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites, which are most likely to happen from dusk to dawn. Take precautions to avoid mosquito bites and protect against potential exposure to the mosquito-borne illness:
Contributing: Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Henry Schwan, Telegram and Gazette
On a busy day, the corner of YouTube run by the New Hampshire’s Loon Preservation Committee gets hundreds of visitors.
Viewers come for the close-up views of loons: striking black and white feathers, ruby red eyes. But they stay for the drama, as the birds mate, lay eggs and protect their nests. And the day everyone’s waiting for, when a chick hatches.
Editor’s note: We strongly recommend listening to this piece by hitting the “listen” button above.
Sara Plourde
NHPR
The loon cam has an enthusiastic fandom. But the channel has humble beginnings. A decade ago, it started sort of as a science project, in an effort to figure out why almost half of loon eggs don’t end up hatching.
“Sometimes these things fail in the blink of an eye. And so unless you have somebody who’s watching that loon nest at the instant a wave crashes over that nest, or a gull or an eagle comes down and snatches the egg, you’re often just not going to know,” said Harry Vogel, the head of the Loon Preservation Committee.
The committee was started in 1975, as loon populations were plummeting. The birds were facing new challenges as humans built dams and vacation homes, and warmed up the atmosphere.
The committee does research and raises money. They help loons escape from icy lakes, if they don’t migrate fast enough. And they put out dozens of pre-made nests every year for loons to use if they can’t build one of their own.
“We are essentially trying to right a wrong that we have done to our loons,” Vogel said.
The loon live streams have helped add to biologists’ understanding of the birds for a decade. Anecdotes pile up over the years, showing different facets of loon behavior. The microphones have picked up cooing noises not previously recognized as loon sounds.
But Vogel says the birds are also a powerful force for conservation. They get people to care. In part, that’s because their calls are hard to forget.
“Then you add a little chick riding up on the back of a parent, and you’ve hooked a fair proportion of your human population,” he said.
Vogel says his team figured, if they were already filming the loons, they might as well share the livestreams with the public. But running a loon cam is hard work.
Enter: Bill Gassman.
About ten years ago, a Loon Preservation Committee biologist recruited Gassman to help out while he was working at a lobster festival. After a 40-year career in technology, he figured he’d be able to help out.
Now, in his retirement, he spends May through July fixated on loons: one eye on the birds, and another on the fast-moving YouTube chat. When chicks are hatching, he’s especially glued to the stream.
“I can’t not watch at all times because I might miss something. You never know when something’s going to happen,” he said.
Gassman’s dedication to his volunteer job as loon cam operator, or L-C-O as he’s affectionately called by viewers, is intense. The birds are the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up.
“The light starts at 4:00. I usually check it to see what’s going on, and I keep it really close overnight in case something attacks an egg. So I’ll usually pull the camera back and go back to sleep,” he said with a laugh.
Gassman controls the loon cam – a security camera attached to a post in the water – with his laptop or phone. He’s skipped parties to attend to loon cam duties, pulled over while driving to catch a big moment, even run the loon cam from the audience at a wedding.
His devotion to the loons extends to his tech setup. He’s fine-tuning it year after year, often to protect it from wildlife. A goose pecked a microphone to death, so now the mics are protected. This year, a bear was suspected of unplugging power cords. Turtles have chewed through cables several times.
“We’re going to put the microphone cable inside a garden hose next year,” he said. “So it’s going to have to chew through that first.”
Gassman says he didn’t know loons that well before his retirement gig. But watching them so closely every summer, he gets why they have so many fans.
“They’re mystical, right? They’re prehistoric. They were around when the dinosaurs were around. They’re beautiful birds. The closer you look, you see how intricate they are,” he said. “The sounds are very haunting.”
He knows of people in New York City who turn on the livestream when they go to sleep, to drift off to the sounds of the lake. Viewers on different time zones leave notes in the chat about what happened overnight.
A small community of viewers – chatters, as they call themselves – come back year after year. And they’re not just fellow YouTube travelers. They’re friends.
Carol Horn DiLernia is one of them. Her family knows her as a loon fanatic. Other livestream viewers know her by her screen name, Tailfeather. She reads about loons, researches them, and loves to talk to other people about their behavior.
Screenshot, Loon Preservation Committee LoonCam
“We bounce things off of one another. We think out loud on the cam. And if I do that at a cocktail party, people will walk away from me, you know,” she said with a laugh.
She’s been watching since the cam’s early days. She watches all kinds of livestreams – red tailed hawks, ospreys. She had an eagle cam phase. But the loons are always on.
Seeing the chicks hatch is a treat, but Horn DiLernia says she also likes to watch the birds bonding and sitting on their eggs.
Often it’s not so idyllic. Eagles attack. Loons accidentally crush their own eggs, or sometimes they abandon them, if they don’t seem viable. This year, out of four eggs in the two nests being live streamed, only one chick hatched.
Horn DiLernia says she tries not to attribute human characteristics to the birds. But she does connect to them.
“I feel for them deeply,” she said. “I also find that they do their grieving process, and then it’s another day and they pick up where they left off.”
In the chat, Horn DiLernia is something like an unofficial moderator, especially when the chicks are hatching. That’s when the chat gets newcomers, and sometimes on YouTube, she says, people make uninformed observations.
“That’s all you need for a group that doesn’t really know what’s going on, and then panic ensues. And it’s like, ‘Stop it!’” she said.
But ultimately, viewers seem to respect her interpretation of what they’re seeing on the cam. And that’s part of why she stays.
“I think it’s important for everybody to champion something. I think that that’s what part of life is, is being a champion to something or someone,” she said. “I think that that’s what I try to do on the cam. I try to give people the education that they’re looking for when they come.”
The loon cam is over for the season. But next spring, the loons will come back. And, unaware they’re being watched, they’ll give another show for their fans.
Copyright 2024 New Hampshire Public Radio
Crime
New Hampshire authorities are urging the public to share any tips or information they have about the 2020 murder of a young man in Rochester.
Michael Kenneth Mowry III was shot and killed inside his bedroom in August of 2020, according to investigators. He was 19.
“The agony of his murder has been unbearable, made even harder because we don’t know who did this or why,” his mother, Aimee Lussier, said in a statement released Monday by New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella.
The statement said new investigations confirm Mowry was the victim of a home invasion robbery on Aug. 30 in 2020. Four masked male suspects allegedly broke into Mowry’s apartment around 3 a.m. and shot him in the neck, the AG said.
“He had just moved into his first apartment and had everything to look forward to,” Lussier said in the statement.
Investigations identified a getaway car used by the robbers to flee the scene, the statement said. The AG believes the suspects “have ties to” the Haverhill and Merrimack Valley area in northeast Massachusetts.
“Mikie was a generous and loving kid who cherished his family, especially his three younger brothers, who really looked up to him,” his mother said. “He was incredibly affectionate and gave the best hugs. When we told him we loved him, he always responded, ‘I love you more.’”
Anyone with information about the case can anonymously call the Rochester CrimeLine at 603-335-6500 or text tips to CRIMES (274637) with TEXT4CASH in the body of the text.
Up to $1,000 is rewarded for tips that lead to an arrest, the statement said.
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Investigators on Monday revealed that four men who broke into a Rochester, New Hampshire home in 2020 and killed a 19-year-old have ties to Massachusetts, as they asked the public for information about the robbery and shooting.
Michael Kenneth Mowry III, of Rochester, was found fatally shot inside his bedroom at 64 Monroe Drive on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. In a statement released Monday, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella confirmed for the first time publicly that Mowry was the victim of a home invasion robbery carried out around 3 a.m. by four masked men.
A vehicle the men used to flee the scene was identified by investigators, who determined the men — who authorities did not publicly identify — have ties to the Haverhill and Merrimack Valley areas in Northeastern Massachusetts.
Aimee Lussier, Mowry’s mother, remembered him as a “generous and loving kid who cherished his family, especially his three younger brothers, who really looked up to him,” in a statement shared by Formella’s office.
“He was incredibly affectionate and gave the best hugs. When we told him we loved him, he always responded, ‘I love you more,’” Lussier said.
At the time of his death, Mowry had moved into his first apartment and had “everything to look forward to.” He loved playing baseball and was about to join the team at Great Bay Community College.
“Now, we will never see him play baseball or witness the adult he would have grown into,” Lussier said. “The agony of his murder has been unbearable, made even harder because we don’t know who did this or why.”
In his obituary, Mowry was remembered as a “brilliant and bright” young man.
“He valued and cherished time with his family, girlfriend, and friends,” the notice reads. “It was the little things in life that brought him the most joy and he lived life to the fullest every day.”
“He was a hilarious individual who made everyone around him laugh. Mikie would light up a room with his energy and humor,” it continues.
Other people living with Mowry at the time of the shooting have been interviewed by investigators and cooperated with law enforcement. They are not considered suspects, according to Formella’s office.
The shooting was reported at around 3:15 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2020, Formella’s office said. When officers arrived, they found Mowry dead.
An autopsy determined Mowry’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck and that the manner of his death was a homicide.
Investigators are offering up to $1,000 for tips that lead to an arrest. Tips can be reported anonymously by calling 603-335-6500 or by texting TEXT4CASH to CRIMES (274637).
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