BOSTON, Mass. — EEE is no longer considered a high or critical risk in Massachusetts.

For the first time, the state's Department of Public Health dropped the designations before the region experienced a frost.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown said the mosquitoes spreading EEE are dying off and the risk from EEE is declining.

She said surveillance and historic data shows most infections occur by the end of September.

Brown says from 2000 to 2023, there were 43 human EEE cases in the state — 41 had gotten sick by Sept. 15, one was at the end of September, and another was an outlier who got sick at the end of October.

"This was really our first opportunity to take all of that information that we've been looking at and apply it and really make what we think is an evidence-based reduction in risk. I want people to know that on nice, sunny, warm days the mosquitoes are out and biting. So use mosquito repellent, but it's really, highly unlikely that there's going to be a large number of human cases from this point on in the season."

Communities given the higher designation earlier this year like Douglas, Dudley, Northbridge, Oxford, Sutton and Webster are now at moderate risk.

The DPH encourages people to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites.