Florida Officials Try to Ease Tourists’ Encephalitis Fears

Health officials tried to calm tourists anxious about an encephalitis alert in one of the world’s top vacation destinations Thursday, as a crop duster sprayed about 8,000 acres of mosquito-infested land.

The alert has cut back evening activities at Walt Disney World, water parks and other attractions just before Labor Day weekend, even though no humans in the state have been infected by the disease, which causes flu-like symptoms that can lead to death.

The kind of mosquitoes that carry the disease feed after dark, particularly at dusk.

“The phones have been ringing off the hook,” said Bill Toth, Orange County’s epidemiologist, who received calls from Germany and Canada.

Walt Disney World was closing all of its hotel swimming pools and three water parks an hour before dusk. It also canceled evening campfires and hayrides. Bug repellent was reportedly selling briskly at area drugstores.

Encephalitis has been detected in chickens in eight counties.

But there was little to worry about, Toth said, as long as visitors wear bug repellent, long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Not everyone was swayed. “Ahh, it’s all hysteria,” said Peter Long of London, who plans to wear shorts “morning, noon and night if it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit. These are bleeding mosquitoes, not vampires.”