A second New Hampshire resident has now died of Eastern equine encephalitis, health officials confirmed Friday.
The state Department of Health and Human Services said in an email that it has identified another New Hampshire resident who tested positive for EEE this year. They said the individual, an adult from Danville, was hospitalized and later died due to their illness. This is the fifth human EEE infection in the state this year, two of which have now been fatal.
The previous death was a resident of Hampstead, which borders on Danville.
All five residents came down with the illness in August, so health officials said the recently-identified infections do not represent newly-acquired disease.
"As the weather cools, there has been a decline in mosquito activity, which likely translates to decreasing risk for mosquito-transmitted infections like EEEV," a DHHS spokeswoman said in an email. "However, it's important for New Hampshire residents and visitors to remember that as long as mosquitos are out and biting, some risk remains."