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Bryan County horse tests positive for EEE
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A horse in Ellabell has tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), according to the Department of Public Health.

EEE is a mosquito-borne virus that causes swelling of the brain and is fatal in horses 70 to 90 percent of the time. EEE has also been detected in the mosquito population in western Chatham County and a horse in Effingham County tested positive for EEE earlier this month.

Horse and large animal owners are encouraged to vaccinate their animals against the virus and to clean out watering sources, such as buckets and troughs, every three to four days to prevent mosquitoes from breeding there.

The primary mosquito that transmits EEE breeds in freshwater swamps. No human cases of the disease have been reported in Georgia this year; however, humans are susceptible to EEE. All residents are also encouraged to use EPA-registered insect repellents containing 20 percent to 30 percent DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus to protect themselves from mosquitoes. Homeowners should also get rid of standing water around the home and in the yard where mosquitoes can breed.

Public health officials remind residents that mosquitoes "don't pay attention to maps" and that everyone in the county should be aware that EEE has been detected in the mosquito population.

Remember the 5Ds of mosquito bite prevention can also help prevent mosquito bites and breeding:

Dusk/Dawn – Avoid dusk and dawn activities during the summer when mosquitoes are most active.

Dress – Wear loose-fitting, long sleeved shirts and pants to reduce the amount of exposed skin.

DEET – Cover exposed skin with an insect repellent containing the DEET, which is the most effective repellent against mosquito bites.

Drain - Empty any containers holding standing water - buckets, barrels, flower pots, tarps - because they are breeding grounds for virus-carrying mosquitoes.

Doors – Make sure doors and windows are in good repair and fit tightly, and fix torn or damaged screens to keep mosquitoes out of the house.

For more information on EEE: http://www.cdc.gov/EasternEquineEncephalitis/

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Later yall, its been fun
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This is among the last pieces I’ll ever write for the Bryan County News.

Friday is my last day with the paper, and come June 1 I’m headed back to my native Michigan.

I moved here in 2015 from the Great Lake State due to my wife’s job. It’s amicable, but she has since moved on to a different life in a different state, and it’s time for me to do the same.

My son Thomas, an RHHS grad as of Saturday, also is headed back to Michigan to play basketball for a small school near Ann Arbor called Concordia University. My daughter, Erin, is in law school at University of Toledo. She had already begun her college volleyball career at Lourdes University in Ohio when we moved down here and had no desire to leave the Midwest.

With both of them and the rest of my family up north, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I haven’t missed winter one bit, but I’m sure I won’t miss the sand gnats, either.

Shortly after we arrived here in 2015, I got a job in communications with a certain art school in Savannah for a few short months. It was both personally and professionally toxic and I’ll leave it at that.

In March 2016 I signed on with the Bryan County News as assistant editor and I’ve loved every minute of it. My “first” newspaper career, in the late 80s and early 90s, was great. But when I left it to work in politics and later with a free-market think tank, I never pictured myself as an ink-stained wretch again.

Like they say, never say never.

During my time here at the News, I’ve covered everything that came along. That’s one big difference between working for a weekly as opposed to a daily paper. Reporters at a daily paper have a “beat” to cover. At a weekly paper like this, you cover … life. Sports, features, government meetings, crime, fundraisers, parades, festivals, successes, failures and everything in between. Oh, and hurricanes. Two of them. I’ll take a winter blizzard over that any day.

Along the way I’ve met a lot of great people. Volunteers, business owners, pastors, students, athletes, teachers, coaches, co-workers, first responders, veterans, soldiers and yes, even some politicians.

And I learned that the same adrenalin rush from covering “breaking news” that I experienced right out of college is still just as exciting nearly 30 years later.

With as much as I’ve written about the population increase and traffic problems, at least for a few short minutes my departure means there will be one less vehicle clogging up local roads. At least until I pass three or four moving vans headed this way as I get on northbound I-95.

The hub-bub over growth here can be humorous, unintentional and ironic all at once. We often get comments on our Facebook page that go something like this: “I’ve lived here for (usually less than five years) and the growth is out of control! We need a moratorium on new construction.”

It’s like people who move into phase I of “Walden Woods” subdivision after all the trees are cleared out and then complain about trees being cut down for phase II.

Bryan County will always hold a special place in my heart and I definitely plan on visiting again someday. My hope is that my boss, Jeff Whitten (one of the best I’ve ever had), will let me continue to be part of the Pembroke Mafia Football League from afar. If the Corleone family could expand to Vegas, there’s no reason the PMFL can’t expand to Michigan.

But the main reason I want to return someday is about that traffic issue. After all, I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I’ll believe that Highway 144 actually got widened.

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