Maine: Rare Powassan virus, spread by ticks, claims life of Rockland-area artist

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Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/12/...-life-of-rockland-area-artist/?ref=relatedBox

Rare Powassan virus, spread by ticks, claims life of Rockland-area artist
By Jackie Farwell, BDN Staff
Posted Dec. 23, 2013, at 6:29 p.m.
Last modified Dec. 23, 2013, at 6:45 p.m.

Marilyn Ruth Snow visited her local hospital on Nov. 9 with a tiny, stubborn tick embedded in her shoulder blade.

Two days later, the active and healthy 73-year-old, a Rockland area watercolor artist better known as Lyn, would speak her last coherent words with her family.

?After that she became delirious and she was in and out of consciousness,? said her daughter Susie Whittington. ?Then she was gone.?

Snow, of South Thomaston, died last Wednesday at Maine Medical Center in Portland. The next day, test results confirmed the rare Powassan virus in her body, making Snow Maine?s first documented case of the often deadly tick-borne disease in nearly a decade...

 

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Re: Maine: Rare Powassan virus, spread by ticks, claims life of Rockland-area artist

Source: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/...uth_Thomaston_woman_may_have_new_strain_.html


Rare virus that killed S. Thomaston woman may have new strain
Researchers believe the Powassan virus, which is spread through tick bites, could spread to more humans.
By Edward D. Murphy emurphy@pressherald.com
Staff Writer
Posted: 2:06 PM
Updated: 2:48 PM

Researchers are worried that a rare virus that killed a South Thomaston woman last week may have developed a new strain that is more likely to be passed to humans.

Marilyn Ruth Snow, a well-known watercolor artist, died of Powassan virus after being bitten by a tick in early November. She was 73. Her daughter, Susie Whittington, said the virus was particularly virulent, with her mother quickly getting weaker, developing a high fever and meningitis, lapsing into delirium, becoming paralyzed and requiring a ventilator to breathe...