Vermont health officials are seeking volunteers for a study of Eastern equine encephalitis.
Matthew Thomas of the state Department of Health says officials hope to learn more about the prevalence of the mosquito-transmitted virus in Vermont. Two men, one from Brandon and the other from Sudbury, died last year in Vermont’s first human cases of EEE.
Thomas tells the Rutland Herald that the plan is to draw blood from 150 to 200 volunteers at clinics in Brandon, Whiting and Sudbury.
The first clinic is April 23 in Brandon, with the Sudbury and Whiting clinics set for May 14.
Blood specimens will be sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control for testing, with results coming back to Vermont for analysis.