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GEOFF BENNETT: Parts of New 
England are# 
on high alert after health 
officials in##

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New Hampshire this week 
confirmed the first death##

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from the rare mosquito-borne 
virus# 
known as eastern equine 
encephalitis.

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It brings the total number of 
confirmed human# 
infections in the U.S. this year 
to six,##

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including cases in Wisconsin, 
New Jersey# 
and the neighboring states of 
Vermont and##

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Massachusetts. Meantime, 
hundreds of# 
cases of another illness 
transmitted##

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by mosquitoes -- that's West 
Nile virus# 
-- have been confirmed across 33 
states.

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It paralyzed a teenager in 
Missouri# 
and hospitalized Dr. Anthony 
Fauci.##

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The country's former top 
infectious# 
disease expert told the outlet 
STAT:##

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"I have never been as sick in my 
life."

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To help us understand more about 
these viruses,##

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the risks they pose and how they 
spread,# 
we're joined now by Dr. Peter 
Hotez,##

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dean of the National School of 
Tropical# 
Medicine at Baylor College of 
Medicine.

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Welcome back to the "News Hour."

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DR. PETER HOTEZ, Baylor College 
of# 
Medicine: Thanks for having me, 
Geoff.

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GEOFF BENNETT: We have now seen 
the first death# 
from the eastern equine 
encephalitis v..

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Tell us more about this disease, 
how it spreads,# 
and why New England seems to be 
affected by it.

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DR. PETER HOTEZ: Yes, it's 
called an alphavirus.

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And we do see cases 
periodically, including# 
human cases and deaths. And it 
tends ..

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disproportionately affect 
horses. And that's# 
where the equine part comes into 
the name.##

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It circulates among birds. And 
there's a# 
specific mosquito for the birds. 
And then,##

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once it gets hold in the birds, 
different# 
mosquitoes can bite and transmit 
to humans.

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So we don't usually see a lot 
of# 
cases. I think my big concern 
is,##

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we're starting to see not only 
the eastern# 
equine cases, but, as you 
mentioned,##

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the West Nile virus cases. And 
there's a bigger# 
problem going on in the Western 
Hemisphere,##

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where there's this big uptick in 
dengue# 
cases in Brazil, this other 
virus Oropouche.

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We're seeing an expansion of 
yellow fever,# 
geography in Brazil to the 
fringes of the##

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Amazon. So the big picture, I 
think, is that# 
we're seeing a general surge in 
vector-borne##

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diseases across the hemisphere. 
Brazil and# 
parts of the Caribbean are 
ground zero,##

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but it's starting to filter in,# 
particularly in Texas and the 
Gulf Coast.

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And this is -- could be a new 
normal for# 
us during this time of climate 
change,##

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together with urbanization and 
other factors.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Well, in parts of 
Massachusetts,# 
health officials there are 
telling people to##

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avoid outdoor activity between 
dusk and# 
dawn. They're conducting 
pesticide sprays.

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How concerned should folks in 
that region be# 
and what more can they do to 
protect themselves?

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DR. PETER HOTEZ: Well, the 
problem is, there's# 
not much room for error. This is 
-- has a high##

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percentage of encephalitis and 
fatalities,# 
perhaps as high as 30 percent of 
the cases.

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So this is definitely not one 
you want to# 
get. I think the most important 
thing is,##

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if you do go outside, especially 
early# 
in the morning or in the 
evening,##

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you want to be fully covered 
with# 
long pants or sweatpants and 
socks##

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and sneakers and a hooded 
sweatshirt# 
if you're out in the morning and 
a hat.

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And then, on the exposed parts, 
make# 
certain you use a good insect 
repellent,##

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preferably one with a high 
percentage# 
of DEET that you put on the 
dorsal and##

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palm or surface of your hands# 
and around your neck. I mean,##

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that's what I do. I like to get 
my 10,000# 
steps in and I do walks early in 
the morning,##

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sometimes before sunrise and in 
the evening, which# 
is a maximal time when 
mosquitoes are biting.

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And, sometimes, my neighbors who 
are out in# 
shorts and T-shirts will look at 
me like I'm##

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a bit nuts. And I use that as a 
teachable moment.# 
And I will explain to them, 
look, you have to be##

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really careful because West Nile 
is accelerating# 
right now, as well as other 
vector-borne diseases.##

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And there's risk now for ones 
transmitted by# 
the Aedes aegypti mosquito, 
including dengue.

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And also we have ones that are 
arising# 
from Brazil. So this is the peak 
time of##

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year for vector-borne disease, 
and it's# 
probably going to become our new 
normal.

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GEOFF BENNETT: You mentioned 
West# 
Nile. Let's talk more about 
it,##

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because we have seen nearly 300 
cases across##

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the country. What should we know 
about the# 
spread and severity of the West 
Nile virus?

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DR. PETER HOTEZ: Well, Texas is 
getting# 
hit very hard. So what we 
usually see in##

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the United States is a big peak 
in Texas# 
and the adjoining states in the 
southeast,##

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Mississippi and Louisiana, and 
then# 
going up into the Great Plains.

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And there's North Dakota and 
Nebraska.# 
And then you also sometimes see 
foci in##

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New York and New Jersey, where 
the virus was# 
first discovered. You have bad 
years and good##

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years for reasons that we don't 
entirely# 
understand. 2012 was a terrible 
year,##

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for instance. And this one's 
looking like# 
it could be a pretty bad year as 
well.

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And I'm worried that it's going# 
to become more and more like 
this,##

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that every year is going to 
become a# 
bad West Nile year, just like we 
could##

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see dengue coming into the U.S. 
Gulf Coast and# 
other diseases transmitted by 
Aedes mosquitoes.

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So the West Nile is transmitted 
by the Culex# 
mosquitoes. That's why we do 
insecticidal##

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spraying in the evening and the 
morning. Aedes is# 
a little more difficult to 
control. It requires##

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going house to house. And we 
tend not# 
to do that much in the United 
States.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Well, if this is 
the new normal,##

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mosquito-borne illness made 
worse by

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climate change, what more should 
we

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be doing to protect ourselves? 
What# 
more could the federal 
government do?

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DR. PETER HOTEZ: Yes, it's a 
good question.

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I think we need to up our game 
in terms of doin..

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our surveillance system in the 
U.S. is# 
extremely fragmented. So, for 
instance,##

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if a patient comes into an 
emergency# 
room or a clinic and has what 
kind of##

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looks like it could be an 
arbovirus infection, a# 
mosquito-transmitted virus 
infection, they will##

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present with fever and rash and 
headache# 
and photophobia, being afraid of 
the light.

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And the physician kind of shrugs 
his shoulders# 
and say, hmm, maybe it's an 
arbovirus infection,##

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maybe it's something else. And 
by# 
the time you get the test 
back,##

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it stays later and sometimes 
even longer than that# 
because you have to send it to 
specialty labs.

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So we don't have the 
point-of-care diagnostics# 
that we need. And what we really 
need to do is##

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have a detailed map at a 
county-by-county# 
level of what's in our 
particular county.

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And so one of the things that 
we're doing here# 
at Baylor College of Medicine 
and our National##

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School of Tropical Medicine, 
we're undertaking a# 
pretty sophisticated 
metagenomics project where##

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we're doing full sequencing of 
mosquitoes,# 
the full genome together with 
their viruses,##

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and also pairing it with 
wastewater testing, so# 
we can get that very detailed 
map of what's there,##

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so when a physician sees a 
patient that they# 
suspect could have one of these 
infections,##

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they will already know what's in 
the# 
flora and fauna of our local 
area.

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And we don't do that currently.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Dr. Peter Hotez, 
thanks, as# 
always, for your insights. We 
appreciate it.

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DR. PETER HOTEZ: Thank you.