Rhode Island health department confirms rare tick-borne viral infection

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A rare tick-borne infection was detected in a Rhode Island resident.

Powassan virus disease (Powassan) was confirmed in a Kent County, Rhode Island resident in his 70s, whos is at home recovering after being infected in January.

Powassan is mostly found in the Northeast and the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and eastern Canada, and only 269 cases have been reported in the U.S. in the past ten years.

Cases of the virus have been going up in recent years, with 10 cases in Massachusetts, five in Connecticut and one in Rhode Island.

The early symptoms of Powassan include headache, fever, vomiting and generalized weakness.

The virus usually progresses to meningoencephalitis, and people with Powassan often need to be hospitalized.

There is vaccine or treatment, so preventing exposure to ticks is the best strategy to avoid Powassan.

You can avoid ticks by:

• Avoiding wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaves. If you are going to be in a wooded area, walk in the center of the trail to avoid contact with overgrown grass, brush, and leaves at the edges of the trail.
• Wearing long pants and long-sleeve shirts when outside.
• Tucking your pants into your socks so ticks do not crawl under your clothes.
• Using an EPA-approved bug spray with the active ingredient DEET (20-30% strength) on your skin or clothes. Check the product label to find the concentration of DEET in a product. (Do not use bug spray with DEET on infants under two months of age. Repellents should contain no more than 30% DEET when used on children. Children should be careful not to rub their eyes after bug spray has been applied on their skin. Wash children’s’ hands with soap and water to remove any bug spray when they return indoors.)
• Wearing light-colored clothing so you can see ticks more easily.