BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WECT) – The Brunswick County Health Department is urging citizens to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes because of the risk of contracting Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

The rare, but serious disease “can result in lengthy illnesses, hospitalization, disability and even death,” said Brunswick County Health Director David Stanley in a news release.

Mosquitoes that spread EEE are species that are found in fresh water floodplains or saltwater marshes, according to Jeff Brown, Brunswick County’s mosquito control supervisor. “People should still pay attention to removing water collection sites that some mosquitoes use as breeding grounds to protect against certain kinds of mosquitoes,” he said.

North Carolina averages about one human EEE case each year, the news release stated, and EEE survivors may suffer from long-term effects to the nervous system. There is a vaccine for horses, but there’s no vaccine for humans.

Stanley urges residents to wear light-colored, long-sleeved shirts and long pants, apply mosquito repellant and avoid being outside at dusk and dawn.

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – A procedure can now be performed by a local doctor to determine if a patient has life-threatening plaque building in his/her coronary arteries, according to a news release from Wilmington Health.

Cardiologist Matt Janik, MD, FACC is accepting appointments for HeartScore Cardiac Calcium Scoring, a non-invasive test that can “accurately determine the degree and severity of hard plaque.”

The 30-second test is painless and performed with a multislice computed tomography (CT) scanner, according to Wilmington Health.  It is recommended for anyone at risk of coronary artery disease.

“Right now we wait for patients to have a heart attack to identify them as high risk,” Janik said in a statement. “This [test] allows us to identify high-risk patients before their first heart attack, so we can treat them more aggressively and prevent that heart attack before it happens.”

To make an appointment for the $100 test, call 910-815-8516. Janik can send the results to the patient or the patient’s care physician or cardiologist.

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