Mosquito-Borne Diseases
Helpful Information and Prevention
Mosquitoes can spread diseases that make you sick. In Massachusetts, mosquitoes can give you eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus or West Nile virus (WNV).
Only a small number of mosquitoes are infected at any given time, so being bitten by a mosquito does not mean you will get sick. However, the best way to avoid both of these illnesses is to prevent mosquito bites.
There are simple steps that you can take to protect yourself and your family from mosquito bites, and the illnesses they can cause.
Protect yourself from illness by doing simple things:
- Use insect repellents any time you are outdoors
- Wear long-sleeved clothing
- Schedule outdoor activities to avoid the hours from dusk to dawn during peak mosquito season
- Repair damaged window and door screens
- Remove standing water from the areas around your home
Learn more about this on Mass.gov.
Ticks are tiny bugs most likely found in shady, damp, brushy, wooded, or grassy areas (especially in tall grass), including your own backyard.
Different kinds of ticks feed on the blood of mammals (including people, dogs, cats, deer, and mice), birds, or reptiles (snakes and turtles, for example). In Massachusetts, certain kinds of ticks can bite you and spread diseases like Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Powassan virus.
You can view fact sheets on Mass.gov about various tick-borne diseases:
- Lyme Disease
- Anaplasmosis (HGA)
- Babesiosis
- Borrelia miyamotoi
- Powassan virus
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Tularemia
Find prevention tips on Mass.gov.