Shiyanne's brothers - Sky, aged 12, Darian, aged 9, and Kyle, aged 7 - and parents Don and Joy are looking ahead to Sept. 28, when they'll plant a tree in Shiyanne's memory at Endicott Park, one of Shiyanne's favorite places. It is a tree with heart-shaped leaves and purple and pink flowers, and the family has also planted one in front of their Chestnut Street home.

     But the spate of recent news reports of confirmed cases of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in Massachusetts is painful to Shiyanne's parents and has given them pause.

     "Shiyanne died before (other) people in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and when it says on the news, 'the first case of triple E,' that hurts very deeply, knowing that it killed my little girl," said Joy Thornell this week.

     The Thornells were told by doctors at Children's Hospital that Shiyanne's was practically a textbook case of one of the so-called arboviruses, which include eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile viruses. They are spread by mosquitoes.

     However, though her death certificate lists encephalitis as the cause of death, samples from Shiyanne sent to the state laboratory for testing did not confirm the presence of the virus.

     "We have talked to the state lab and our family physician many times, and if the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) doesn't come back with a positive result, then they don't publicize it," she said.

     No significant risk

     Shiyanne developed a fever on a Saturday in July. She began vomiting, but she seemed better on Sunday. But very early Monday morning, she was sick again and spiked a fever, and on the way out the door to Beverly Hospital, she had a seizure. She was rushed to Beverly Hospital and within an hour-and-a-half, she was taken to Children's Hospital in Boston.

"It went through her system so quickly that the doctors were stunned," said Joy. She hadn't even been assigned a doctor at Children's before succumbing to the effects of swelling in her brain.

     Danvers Public Health Director Peter Mirandi said the town, as a member of the Northeast Mosquito Control Project, places mosquito traps in three locations in town, Endicott Park being one. But no mosquitoes tested here have been shown to carry EEE.

     Mirandi said the presence of West Nile virus is known in Danvers. Throughout the summer, Mirandi said brochures were placed in locations frequented by families and listing precautions.

 He said he met with the public health directors of Peabody, Salem and Beverly on Wednesday. Those directors have concluded, said Mirandi, that "No significant risk exists at this time in this region for EEE."

     Mirandi said a low mosquito population due to dry weather and a low infection rate among those mosquitoes in neighboring areas which have tested positive contributed to the finding.

     Informed decisions

     Some communities where laboratory results confirm the presence of EEE have put a temporary halt to early evening outdoor activities in order to spray. Georgetown is one such town.

     In Danvers, Mirandi did circulate a Department of Public Health memorandum to schools this week outlining basic precautions, which include staying indoors during peak hours (dusk to dawn); wearing long sleeves, socks, and long pants when outdoors during peak hours; and wearing repellent when going outdoors. Mirandi endorses the use of DEET as well.

     "It's not that common and it's not something you concern yourself with," said Joy Thornell. "You concern yourself with bike helmets," she said.

     Mirandi confirmed that the concern is well-placed, because the likelihood of a bike injury is far greater than contracting an arbovirus.

We still don't want to scare anybody," said Joy this week. "But, I'm all about informed decision-making."

     To that end, the family has posted information about arboviruses on a Web site dedicated to their daughter's spirit (www.shiyanne.com), along with selected writings and photographs of the little girl - "sweet pea" to her dad, a "pistol" to her grandmother - who made her mark on the world.

      "She was the first one in her preschool class at Riverside School to look for a partner," said Joy. "She had lofty plans to marry someone in her class," she added, though it was also speculated that prospective suitors would first have to pass muster with brothers Sky, Darian and Kyle.