Maine CDC Director, Dr Sheila Pinette discusses Powassan virus

Just about everyone is familiar with the tickborne bacterial disease, Lyme disease; however, last month, a Knox County, Maine woman died after a several week long battle with a tickborne virus many people are unfamiliar with called Powassan virus.

Ixodes cookei and Ixodes scapularis
Image/CDC

I had the opportunity to talk to the Director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr Sheila Pinette, to learn more about this sometimes lethal, albeit quite rare infection (Listen below).

During our discussion, Dr. Pinette explained what Powassan virus is and the symptoms associated with an infection with Powassan– fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, speech difficulties, and seizures. The virus can cause some serious neurological symptoms, Pinette noted.

She also explained that in Maine, Powassan is transmitted by two types of ticks–the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, which many are familiar as the vector for Lyme disease, the parasite Babesia and anaplasmosis. It can also be transmitted by the woodchuck tick, Ixodes cookei.

The infection is pretty rare, about 50 cases in the US in the past decade, Dr Pinette noted. However, it does have a fatality rate of around 10-15%.

Related story: Chuck Schumer Calls On The CDC To Increase Research On Powassan Virus, Other Tick-Borne Diseases

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