HARTFORD, Conn.—The Connecticut Department of Public Health today announced that a Connecticut resident has tested positive for Powassan virus infection. This is the first case of POWV associated illness identified in Connecticut in 2022. From 2017 to 2021, 12 cases of POWV associated illness were reported in Connecticut, including three in 2021. Of those 12 cases between 2017 and 2021, two were fatal.

The male patient—age 50 to 59—is a resident of Windham and became ill during the fourth week of March. Laboratory tests performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Laboratory in Ft. Collins, Colorado, confirmed the presence of antibodies to POWV. The patient was hospitalized with a central nervous system disease and had a known tick bite. The patient has been discharged and is recovering at home.

"The identification of a Connecticut resident with Powassan virus associated illness emphasizes the need to take actions to prevent tick bites from now through the late fall," said DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. "Using insect repellent, avoiding areas where ticks are likely, and checking carefully for ticks after being outside can reduce the chance of you or your children being infected with this virus."

Commissioner Juthani added that POWV is usually spread through the bite of an infected black-legged or deer tick. It takes a week to one month after the bite from an infected tick to develop symptoms of POWV disease, and the virus can be transmitted in as little as 15 minutes after the tick first attaches.

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