Wednesday 8 June 2022 11:04 PM Connecticut woman in her 90s dies after testing positive for rare tick-borne ... trends now
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A Connecticut woman has died from the rare tick-borne Powassan virus just a month after being bitten by the parasite.
The individual — who has not been named — was in her 90s and lived in New London county, which borders Rhode Island.
Health officials said she was admitted to hospital with a fever, headache, chest pain and 'altered mental state' two weeks after being bitten by a tick in early May. The patient died 14 days later after becoming 'unresponsive'.
It is the second death from the tick-borne disease in America this year, after a man from Maine died from the virus in April.
Powassan virus is rare — with about 28 people test positive for it every year — but about one in ten people who are infected die, and half are left with life-long disabilities.
There are no vaccines or medicines against the disease, with treatment instead focusing on easing symptoms, including trouble breathing and swelling of the brain.
The woman was in her 90s and in New London county, which borders Rhode Island. Doctors said she died two weeks after being admitted to hospital when she became 'unresponsive'. She has tested positive for the Powassan virus which is transmitted to humans by Deer or black-legged ticks (pictured above)
Pictured above are all the states that have detected Powassan virus since 2011 and the number of cases they have recorded in a decade (number on each state)
This shows the number of cases of Powassan virus recorded across the United States. There was a record 39 picked up in 2019
Connecticut's health commissioner Dr Manisha Juthani said the case was a reminder to 'take action' in order to avoid ticks from 'now through to late fall'.
She called on residents to keep
