A marine corps veteran who died in May tested positive for a rare tick-borne illness before his death, according to a diagnosis confirmed on June 10.
This is the second case caused by the rare virus in Sussex County this week and the Sussex County Division of Health is investigating the issue.
Donna Leusner, spokesperson for the state Department of Health said that if the cause of the veteran’s death is confirmed to be the virus, it would be the first such case in Sussex County and only the second in the state.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as quoted by the Herald, it would be only the tenth case of death caused by the rare tick-borne virus in the United States since 2008.
The second person infected by the Powassan virus in Sussex County is recovering at home. While health officials haven’t disclosed the identities of those who died from the virus, Rude came forward with her father’s case.
Rude told the Herald that the testing was done at the CDC and that doctors confirmed the diagnosis on Monday.
She said though her father had faced various medical issues he was an active person until May 6 when he suddenly suffered from a high fever.
She described how within the next 12 hours Desormeaux’s condition rapidly declined and he was transported in an ambulance to Newton Medical Center. He was violently shaking, was suffering from tremors, was not able to talk, and was losing the ability to move his limbs.
She said that after receiving the diagnosis on Monday her father’s condition made sense to her.
“A full battery of tests were run an eventually sent for special testing with the CDC who found Powassan Tickborne Virus,” Rude wrote on Facebook.
She said her family came to know that another person is infected with the same virus five miles from their home and has survived with severe neurological issues.
Powassan Virus
The CDC said that the number of cases of people suffering from the Powassan virus has increased in recent years and there is no vaccine to treat or prevent the infection.The CDC said that most of the cases in the country happen in the northeast and Great Lakes regions in the late spring, early summer, and mid-fall when ticks are most active.