Eastern Equine Encephalitis: Causes and How It Spreads | Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus | CDC
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Eastern equine encephalitis is caused by a virus usually spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito.
Eastern equine encephalitis virus circulates in the environment between mosquitoes and birds typically found in swamps.
The virus can rarely be transmitted through solid organ transplantation.
Primary cause
Eastern equine encephalitis is caused by a virus that is found in North America and the Caribbean.
A closely related virus, Madariaga virus (formerly known as South American eastern equine encephalitis virus), causes disease primarily in horses in Central and South America.
How it spreads
Eastern equine encephalitis virus circulates in the environment between mosquitoes and birds typically found in freshwater hardwood swamps.
People and some other animals (e.g., horses and emus) become infected often by different mosquitoes (known as bridge vectors) that feed on both birds and animals.
People and horses are considered “dead-end” hosts. This means they do not spread the virus, even though they get sick, to mosquitoes that bite them.
Eastern equine encephalitis virus was transmitted through organ transplantation involving one organ donor and three organ recipients.
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