In 2019, eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, made headlines in much of the US as cases skyrocketed compared to previous years. But why is this disease so feared and even more importantly, why is it on the rise? Those are just a couple of the questions we seek to answer on this week’s episode. From the nitty gritty on what this virus does to your body to centuries-long forest dynamics in Massachusetts, we connect the disease ecology dots of EEE. We promise, the biology and history of eastern equine encephalitis is much more exciting than its etymology.
| History | Biology |
| Foster, Charles H. W., and Robert S. Bond. Stepping Back to Look Forward: a History of the Massachusetts Forest. Distributed by Harvard University for Harvard Forest, 1998. | Aguilar, Patricia V., Scott C. Weaver, and Christopher F. Basler. “Capsid protein of eastern equine encephalitis virus inhibits host cell gene expression.” Journal of virology 81.8 (2007): 3866-3876. |
| Armstrong, Philip M., and Theodore G. Andreadis. “Eastern equine encephalitis virus-old enemy, new threat.” N Engl J Med 368.18 (2013): 1670-1673. | Aguilar, Patricia V., et al. “Variation in interferon sensitivity and induction among strains of eastern equine encephalitis virus.” Journal of virology 79.17 (2005): 11300-11310. |
| Armstrong, Philip M., and Theodore G. Andreadis. “Eastern equine encephalitis virus in mosquitoes and their role as bridge vectors.” Emerging infectious diseases 16.12 (2010): 1869. | Deresiewicz, Robert L., et al. “Clinical and neuroradiographic manifestations of eastern equine encephalitis.” New England Journal of Medicine 336.26 (1997): 1867-1874. |
| Arrigo, Nicole C., A. Paige Adams, and Scott C. Weaver. “Evolutionary patterns of eastern equine encephalitis virus in North versus South America suggest ecological differences and taxonomic revision.” Journal of virology 84.2 (2010): 1014-1025. | Whitley, Richard J. “Viral encephalitis.” New England Journal of Medicine 323.4 (1990): 242-250. |
| Beadle, Leslie D. “Eastern equine encephalitis in the United States.” Mosquito News 12.2 (1952): 102-7. | Whitley, Richard J., and John W. Gnann. “Viral encephalitis: familiar infections and emerging pathogens.” The Lancet 359.9305 (2002): 507-513. |
| Clements, A. N. “The biology of mosquitoes. Volume 3: Transmission of viruses and interactions with bacteria.” The biology of mosquitoes. Volume 3: Transmission of viruses and interactions with bacteria. (2012). | Brault, Aaron C., et al. “Genetic and antigenic diversity among eastern equine encephalitis viruses from North, Central, and South America.” The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 61.4 (1999): 579-586. |
| Hanson, R. P. “An Epizootic of Equine Encephalomyelitis That Occurred in Massachusetts in 1831.” The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 6.5 (1957): 858-862. | Dupuy, Lesley C., and Douglas S. Reed. “Nonhuman primate models of encephalitic alphavirus infection: historical review and future perspectives.” Current opinion in virology 2.3 (2012): 363-367. |
| Komar, Nicholas, and Andrew Spielman. “Emergence of eastern encephalitis in Massachusetts.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 740 (1994): 157-168. | Mukerji, Shibani S., Alice D. Lam, and Michael R. Wilson. “Eastern equine encephalitis treated with intravenous immunoglobulins.” The Neurohospitalist 6.1 (2016): 29-31. |
| Komar, Nicholas, et al. “Eastern equine encephalitis virus in birds: relative competence of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).” The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 60.3 (1999): 387-391. | Wendell, Linda C., et al. “Successful management of severe neuroinvasive eastern equine encephalitis.” Neurocritical care 19.1 (2013): 111-115. |
| Morens, David M., Gregory K. Folkers, and Anthony S. Fauci. “Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus—Another Emergent Arbovirus in the United States.” New England Journal of Medicine 381.21 (2019): 1989-1992. | Solomon, Isaac H., et al. “Fatal eastern equine encephalitis in a patient on maintenance rituximab: a case report.” Open forum infectious diseases. Vol. 4. No. 1. Oxford University Press, 2017. |
| Thompson, Jonathan R., et al. “Four centuries of change in northeastern United States forests.” PloS one 8.9 (2013): e72540. | Lindsey, Nicole P., J. Erin Staples, and Marc Fischer. “Eastern equine encephalitis virus in the United States, 2003–2016.” The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 98.5 (2018): 1472-1477. |
| Winter Jr, William D. “Eastern equine encephalomyelitis in Massachusetts in 1955: Report of two cases in infants.” New England Journal of Medicine 255.6 (1956): 262-267. | Morens, David M., Gregory K. Folkers, and Anthony S. Fauci. “Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus—Another Emergent Arbovirus in the United States.” New England Journal of Medicine 381.21 (2019): 1989-1992. |
| https://www.cdc.gov/easternequineencephalitis/index.html |
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