BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts public health officials say laboratory testing has confirmed the state’s eighth human case of eastern equine encephalitis this season.

The state Department of Public Health said Friday the latest case of the mosquito-borne disease is in a man in his 50s from northeastern Bristol County.

Of the previous seven cases, one was in a 5-year-old girl, and another in adult woman was fatal.

In addition to the eight human cases of EEE, there have also been eight confirmed cases of EEE in animals and one human case of West Nile virus.

There are 35 communities in the state now at critical risk for EEE, 38 at high risk, and 120 at moderate risk.

Health officials urge residents to use insect repellent when mosquitoes are at their most active.

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