As if ticks weren’t already creepy and disgusting enough, health officials in Maine have reported its first identified Powassan virus case and death this year. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the fatal case in a Sagadahoc County resident.
Robert Weymouth, 58, died after developing neurological problems, including brain swelling, according to his wife, Annemarie.
“He was in there, but he couldn’t move his body. He could point to words on a board. He pointed to ‘scared,’ ‘afraid,’ ‘frustrated,'” Weymouth said to News Center Maine via a phone call.
While hospitalized at Maine Medical Center, he underwent a procedure on his knee but then lost all feeling on the right side of his body. Later, an MRI revealed severe brain swelling.
A spinal tap finally showed he was positive for the Powassan virus.
“Even if they had known from Day 1 that it was Powassan, there is no known treatment for that,” Weymouth explained.
This is the first identified case of the virus for the state of Maine this year, according to Lindsay Hammes, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms of a Powassan virus infection may include fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, seizures, or memory loss. The virus can also cause brain infections, and only about 10 percent of people who contract the virus die.
The Powassan virus disease is carried by infected deer or woodchuck ticks, both of which are found throughout Maine. It can take up to a month to feel any effects of being bitten by an infected tick.
A Waldo County resident died last April after contracting the rare virus, making it the fourth fatal case of Powassan virus recorded in Maine over the past decade.
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