HAMPSTEAD, N.H. (WHDH) – The family of a 41-year-old Hampstead, New Hampshire man has confirmed their loved one recently died due to the EEE.
State officials on Tuesday said an adult died due to the virus but did not identify the person by age or by name.
In an obituary, family members of Steven Scott Perry said passed away at Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday of last week “after being stricken by a sudden and rare brain infection.”
“Steven will forever be in our hearts, remembered for his warmth, spirit, and the love he shared with all who knew him,” Perry’s family said in his obituary.
News of Perry’s death comes as officials throughout New England grapple with the rising threat of EEE, which is transmitted through bites by infected mosquitoes.
New Hampshire had not recorded a human case of EEE since 2014. Though officials confirmed Perry had EEE, they did not immediately know where he was infected.
As of Tuesday, experts had not detected EEE in any mosquito samples within Hampstead.
“We know it’s around the area,” said Hampstead Chief Building Officials Kristopher Emerson. “We just haven’t had a positive batch in town.”
Eastern Equine Encephalitis, known as EEE, is rare but potentially deadly. According to the CDC, about 30% of people who are infected die.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services tracks the spread of EEE and other mosquito-borne viruses including West Nile Virus and Jamestown Canyon Virus. In its latest update earlier this month, the department had raised the risk level for such illnesses in several communities near Lake Winnipesaukee to moderate or high.
The Department of Health and Human Services also raised the risk level to moderate for several communities along the Massachusetts border.
“It’s definitely scary,” New Hampshire resident Madisen Garvey told 7NEWS.
As a mother of two, Garvey said “We’re outside a lot.”
“…If this is going to be an issue,…