The state Department of Health sent a statewide advisory about a rare tick-borne disease to doctors and public health officials late yesterday, urging physicians to consider it as a possible cause for patients with viral encephalitis or meningitis.
A 51-year-old Warren County woman died in mid-May of Powassan virus, a tick-borne illness whose most dangerous symptom is encephalitis.
It was New Jersey's first case of a disease that, while extremely rare, is fatal in 10 percent of the cases. It is carried by the same tick that carries bacteria for Lyme disease — although only 1 percent carry Powassan.
Powassan differs from Lyme disease in another important way: While a tick has to remain attached to a person for at least a day to transmit Lyme, it needs only 15 minutes to spread Powassan.
The rest of the story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/12/nj_officials_alert_medical_community_about_fatality_from_tick-borne_illness.html
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