To the UNITED STATESaccording to an April 20, 2022 press release from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Preventiona resident of Waldo County in the Maine died of an infection virus Powassan transmitted by the bite of an infected tick. The patient developed neurological symptoms.
The statement said regarding 25 cases of Powassan virus infection are reported each year in the United States, with Maine having identified 14 cases since 2010.
Reminders on the virus Powassan :
Le virus Powassan of the kind Flavivirus is transmitted to humans by infected ticks (Ixodes). It is responsible for a disease with neurological tropism. Apart from humans, many animals can harbor this virus: groundhogs, hares, coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks, as well as domestic cats and dogs.
The disease is present in North America in Canada, in the United States with more than 40 cases since 1952, and in Russia. Seasonal incidence varies with tick activity (Ixodes cookei, Ixodes marxi, Ixodes spinipalpus) that serve as vectors, higher in rural or forested areas and the risk of transmission is greatest from June to September.
After an incubation of 7 to 14 days, appearance of encephalitis with, in milder forms, fever, headache or aseptic meningitis.
Clinical signs of infection may include fever, headache, vomiting, delirium, seizures and memory loss. Neurological sequelae may occur. There is no specific treatment, there is no vaccine.
The disease occurs mainly in forest areas with a seasonal occurrence (maximum transmission from June to September) corresponding with tick activity. Ticks live in forests and undergrowth, tall grass, but also on golf courses and in public gardens.
To reduce the risk of being infected, the traveler is advised to:
- wear clothing covering the skin and socks going up on the bottom of the pants;
- walk in the center of the trails to avoid grass and bushes;
- use a repellent containing 50% DEET on exposed parts and an insecticide containing permethrin on clothing;
- check regularly following a few hours for the absence of ticks on the body (thighs, arms, armpits and legs);
- if a tick is present, remove it using “tick tweezers” by grasping it as close to the skin as possible and pulling gradually (avoid crushing the tick, burning or applying various substances);
- wash and disinfect the sting area and hands;
- in case of fever, redness of the skin (in the form of a ring) or other new symptoms following a tick bite, consult a doctor quickly.
Source : ProMED.
