South Shore: EEE and West Nile threat diminishing thanks to killing frost

It’s been a brutal year for Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile on the South Shore, but the threat is on its way out.

Friday night’s frost plunged temperatures into the 20s in some locations, killing not only plants, but also disease-carrying mosquitos.

Still, health officials caution it’s still a good idea to be wary of mosquitos between dusk and dawn, because it usually takes a few successive nights of below-freezing temperatures to kill all of the insects.

So far this year, seven people in Massachusetts have been infected with EEE, including an Amesbury woman in her 60s who died.

22 human West Nile cases have been recorded.