\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNew state health data show a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus has been detected in Central Florida, raising concerns as residents head into the peak summer mosquito season.At Rotary Park along the Indian River, mosquitoes are a familiar nuisance for Brevard County resident Emily Browder and her friends.\u201cThere has been a problem around here with mosquitoes,\u201d Browder said.But health officials warn the threat extends beyond itchy bites.According to a recent report from the Florida Department of Health, sentinel chickens in Orange County tested positive last week for Eastern Equine Encephalitis, commonly known as EEE or Triple-E, a rare but potentially deadly virus spread through mosquito bites. Sentinel chickens are placed in specific locations to help detect mosquito-borne diseases before they spread more widely.So far in 2026, health officials have confirmed at least nine cases of Triple-E activity across Orange, Volusia and Brevard counties. Those cases include a horse that tested positive in Volusia County in March.While human infections remain rare, the virus can cause severe neurological illness and, in some cases, death.Health officials are urging residents to take steps to reduce mosquito populations around their homes and protect themselves from bites. Recommended prevention measures include: Draining standing water where mosquitoes can breed Keeping doors and windows properly screened Mowing grass and maintaining yards regularlyFor Browder and her friends, protection often means using mosquito repellents, especially during outdoor activities.\u201cWe do like to use oil, peppermint oil, natural mosquito repellents. We try to avoid the DEET, but if we know we’re going somewhere that we know we’re going to be carried away, we will use that,\u201d Browder said.Browder, who lives in Cocoa Beach, said mosquitoes have been a recurring problem in the area.\u201cWe\u2019ve had a few summers where it\u2019s been a real infestation,\u201d she said.With Triple-E activity now confirmed in Central Florida, health officials stress that taking precautions is especially important during the hot, humid summer months when mosquito populations are at their highest.Triple-E has no specific treatment, vaccine or cure for humans, making prevention the most effective defense against infection, according to Florida health officials.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tBREVARD COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
New state health data show a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus has been detected in Central Florida, raising concerns as residents head into the peak summer mosquito season.<\/p>\n
At Rotary Park along the Indian River, mosquitoes are a familiar nuisance for Brevard County resident Emily Browder and her friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a problem around here with mosquitoes,\u201d Browder said.<\/p>\n
But health officials warn the threat extends beyond itchy bites.<\/p>\n
According to a recent report from the Florida Department of Health, sentinel chickens in Orange County tested positive last week for Eastern Equine Encephalitis, commonly known as EEE or Triple-E, a rare but potentially deadly virus spread through mosquito bites. Sentinel chickens are placed in specific locations to help detect mosquito-borne diseases before they spread more widely.<\/p>\n
So far in 2026, health officials have confirmed at least nine cases of Triple-E activity across Orange, Volusia and Brevard counties. Those cases include a horse that tested positive in Volusia County in March.<\/p>\n
While human infections remain rare, the virus can cause severe neurological illness and, in some cases, death.<\/p>\n
Health officials are urging residents to take steps to reduce mosquito populations around their homes and protect themselves from bites. Recommended prevention measures include:<\/p>\n
Draining standing water where mosquitoes can breed Keeping doors and windows properly screened Mowing grass and maintaining yards regularly<\/p>\n
For Browder and her friends, protection often means using mosquito repellents, especially during outdoor activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do like to use oil, peppermint oil, natural mosquito repellents. We try to avoid the DEET, but if we know we’re going somewhere that we know we’re going to be carried away, we will use that,\u201d Browder said.<\/p>\n
Browder, who lives in Cocoa Beach, said mosquitoes have been a recurring problem in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a few summers where it\u2019s been a real infestation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With Triple-E activity now confirmed in Central Florida, health officials stress that taking precautions is especially important during the hot, humid summer months when mosquito populations are at their highest.<\/p>\n
Triple-E has no specific treatment, vaccine or cure for humans, making prevention the most effective defense against infection, according to Florida health officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New state health data show a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus has been detected in Central Florida, raising concerns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[309055,36412,37534,13794,97,29477,309058,32574,309056,6011,309059,14857,309057,2316,309054,57260],"class_list":["post-717358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-browder","tag-case","tag-central-florida","tag-friend","tag-health","tag-health-official","tag-itchy-bite","tag-mosquito","tag-mosquito-borne-virus","tag-orange-county","tag-prevention-measure","tag-resident","tag-sentinel-chicken","tag-summer","tag-triple-e","tag-volusia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}