The Wayland Health Department and the Town Administrator would like to advise parents to end trick-or-treating early this year due to the risk of Eastern equine encephalitis, also called EEE. Trick-or-treating should end by 6pm this year, so residents might expect to see trick or treaters a little earlier.

Mosquitoes that carry EEE and West Nile Virus are most active during dawn and dusk. On Halloween, the sun will set at about 5:42pm. The threat of mosquitoes will remain in Massachusetts until the first “hard” frost —which means several hours of temperatures at or below 28 degrees. There have been several frosts so far this fall, but no hard frosts yet.

Although our nights are getting colder, it is not expected that we will reach a hard freeze before October 31. The Health Department recommends that outdoor activities, including Halloween, be completed by 6 p.m. As parents and their kids venture out for Halloween, protective measures should still be taken to avoid mosquito bites, such as wearing long sleeves, pants, socks, and using mosquito repellent.

The EEE risk level in Wayland was still “high” as of October 22, according to state officials. West Nile risk is “low” but remains.