Powassan virus

Department of Public Health officials said an elderly woman in Connecticut has died of Powassan virus. A woman in her 90s became the second Connecticut resident to test positive for the virus this year. A Windham man was the first person to test positive for Powassan virus this year, according to DPH officials. The woman lived in New London County…

Public health officials across the New England area are urging residents to take precautions to avoid tick bites after several people have been infected with the Powassan virus.

Powassan virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected tick.

A Windham man has tested positive for Powassan virus and is the first case in the state this year, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Health officials are urging residents to take action to prevent tick bites. The man is between 50 and 59 years old and became ill during the fourth week of March, according to the…

Maine public health officials are urging people in the state to take certain precautions in order to prevent tick bites after a person there died of Powassan virus. The rare illness is tick-borne, transmitted in bites from woodchuck or deer ticks and can cause severe health problems like brain and spinal inflammation, along with vomiting, fever and seizures. According to…

The first case this year of a potentially fatal tick-born virus has been discovered in Maine, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday. The Powassan virus — caused by the bites of infected deer ticks or woodchuck ticks — can result in fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, seizures and memory loss, according to the Maine CDC. It…