For the first time this year in Massachusetts, the Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus, or EEE, has been found in mosquito samples tested from Bridgewater in Plymouth County.
At the baseball field in Bridgewater Friday evening, bug spray was plentiful.
"I don't particularly take precautions for myself, but I definitely do for my kids," said Sam Sicchio.
"I don't want to lose a child to a mosquito, that's ridiculous," said Linda Clougherty. "I have three kids and I'm always the one to put the bug spray on."
Someone who knows the deadly effects of the virus all to well is Kimberley King of Halifax.
She lost her daughter, Adreanna, back in 2005 to EEE at the young age of five.
The virus claimed her life after just eight days.
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"We had no idea she was sick, 18 hours before her first seizure. We never saw it coming and our pediatrician told us we were paranoid, and sent us home," said Halifax.
She urges others to be smart.
"You need to take personal responsibility, you can't rely on the mosquito control projects or the state to call an emergency," she said.
In addition to Bridgewater, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health says West Bridgewater, Easton, Raynham and Middleborough are also at a moderate threat level based on last year's EEE activity.
There have been no human cases of EEE or West Nile Virus so far this year, but last year, a Norfolk County woman died from the virus.
The DPH urges people to use bug spray, drain standing water, wear protective clothing and repair your screens if they are broken.
They also remind you to protect your animals.
