Out There: Mosquito math

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🌔 It’s Saturday, Sept 14. Here’s what’s on deck:

• Spectacular foliage predicted
• A $9.6 billion climate plan
• Studying astronaut pee

But first,

A risky time to get bug bites

A virus called Eastern Equine Encephalitis, or EEE, has shown up in mosquitoes in over a dozen towns in western Vermont this summer, from the Champlain Islands to the top of Rutland County. Several species of mosquitoes can carry the virus, which originally comes from birds.

When an infected mosquito bites a person they usually don’t get sick. But in rare cases, a bite can land someone in the hospital, like it did for a Chittenden County man this July, or lead to death, like for a New Hampshire man last month. So public health officials are advising Vermonters to take precautions against mosquito bites: cover up, wear bug spray (or use DEET wipes), remove standing water from your property and, in certain areas, avoid being outdoors at dawn and dusk, when the mosquitoes that carry the virus are most active.

📊 The numbers: A little over 2% of the vials of mosquitoes the state has collected and tested since June have come back positive for EEE. That’s the highest rate since state researchers started testing for the virus in 2011, after a bunch of emus got sick on a farm in Rutland County. In some areas, the percentage of mosquitoes testing positive is much higher, but rates have come down in recent weeks.

😷 Risk from a bug bite: If you do get bitten by a mosquito infected with EEE, most people have no symptoms or develop a mild illness. About 5% develop brain inflammation – that comes out to an average of 11 cases in the U.S. each year, which can be fatal. The scary thing about this virus is there’s no treatment. There’s a vaccine for horses, but not for people.

🗺️ Location, location, location: The state doesn’t test mosquitoes in every town – they have just over 100 testing sites, spread out among 88 towns. To show areas at the highest risk, the health department created a map with a 5-mile radius around towns where mosquitoes have tested positive or where there’s been a human case. They use a relatively small radius because mosquitoes don’t travel very far over their lifetime – typically less than a mile from where they hatch.

🍂 Cooler weather means fewer bug bites: Mosquitoes are less active as temperatures cool and start to become inactive below 50 degrees. There are also fewer of the bugs when it’s drier. This year that has meant less mosquitoes in the southeastern part of the state.

🚫 The state is not to spraying pesticides: The Department of Health says the risk to the public is not great enough to warrant applying pesticides to kill adult mosquitoes, based on the species testing positive and the weather.

In other news

🌈🍁 ‘The best in a decade’: That’s the prediction for the upcoming foliage season from a naturalist at NHPR. He says forests this summer didn’t have many insect outbreaks, it wasn’t too wet or dry, and many leaves were still green over Labor Day – all indicators of great fall colors. In other seasonal news: The first snow fell at Jay Peak and Mount Washington this week.

💰 Governor blasts nearly $10 billion price tag of climate legislation: The figure is an estimate of how much it will cost Vermonters to meet statutory requirements to reduce carbon emissions from heating buildings over the next 25 years, according to a recent analysis. Scott compared lawmakers’ tentative plan to control thermal sector emissions to failed efforts to pass single payer health care reform in the state. Advocates point out the same analysis predicted Vermonters would see nearly $12 billion in societal benefits.

🚱🐄 EPA says Vermont is violating the Clean Water Act: At issue is how the state regulates water quality complaints on Vermont farms with livestock living in close quarters, like many dairy farms. The EPA says the state isn’t doing its job to control manure and wastewater spills on these farms. And if the state doesn’t get in line, the federal government will take away Vermont’s authority to regulate local water quality broadly – something state leaders have called “the nuclear option.”

🚀 Collecting astronaut pee: Researchers at Dartmouth College are getting urine samples from the crew currently aboard the SpaceX rocket circling Earth as a way to ultimately track  bone loss and prevent kidney stones in space. It’s a common health concern for astronauts, whose bones shed calcium in zero-gravity conditions.

In your backyard

Get out there

🏞️🗑️ Cleaning day: Several groups are hosting river clean ups this weekend in Vermont and throughout the region. In Derby, you can join a paddle along the Clyde River at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14. Bring a canoe or kayak if you have one, but it’s not necessary. In Barre City, organizers say to come ready to wade through water in the Stevens Branch and Jail Branch rivers to pick up plastic bags, old tires and other trash. The event kicks off at 9 a.m. with a bagel breakfast.

🥾 Pride Hike in Jeffersonville: Join staff of Vermont Audubon and the Vermont Land Trust on a two-mile walk featuring a covered bridge, the top of a waterfall, and an optional swim in the river Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. These monthly hikes have been taking place since 2018 as a gathering for queer hikers and allies.

🍄💃 Celebrate mushrooms: First, head to the Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington for a walk with a mycologist to explore the woods and learn about mushrooms Saturday Sept. 14. Then, go to a dance performance set on a golf course in Hanover, NH that follows the life cycle of fungi, running Tuesday, Sept 17 through Thursday, Sept 19. Tickets are $30 and up.

Credits: This week’s edition was put together by Lexi Krupp with lots of help from the Vermont Public team, including graphics by Laura Nakasaka and digital support from Sophie Stephens. Editing by Brittany Patterson.