(CNN) Health officials are warning that seven towns in southeastern Massachusetts are at "high risk" for a potentially fatal mosquito-borne virus known as Eastern equine encephalitis or EEE.

The virus has been found in 92 mosquito samples this year, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said Wednesday, and one-third of them are from a species that can spread the virus to people.

"We're raising the risk level because there is more activity than we typically see and it is happening early in the season," Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said in a statement.

Although no human or animal cases of EEE have been detected in the state this year, officials are cautioning people to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes.

"We take EEE very seriously and this year we are concerned about the risk," state epidemiologist Catherine Brown said in the statement. "It is important for residents to know that in communities at high risk for EEE, we strongly encourage rescheduling evening outdoor events to avoid the hours between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active."

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