Staff Reports
Saturday, October 11, 2014 7:36 am

AUGUSTA, Maine - For the first time since the state began testing for neuroinvasive triple-E a half century ago, a Maine resident is reported to have contracted the deadly disease.

The York County resident, who is over the age of 60, fell ill in July and had to be placed on a respirator. They were transferred to a Massachusetts hospital as the disease worsened, then slowly recuperated and are back at home with little lingering effects, state health officials said on Friday.

Neither the victim's name nor home town was disclosed.

The Maine CDC announced in early September that triple-E had been found in 22 mosquito pools in York County. The disease was also found this year in both mammals and mosquitoes in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The more serious form of triple-E, which attacks the nervous system, is fatal in about one third of those who contract it.

Testing for triple-E began in Maine in 1964.

Severe cases that involve inflammation of the brain happen five to 10 times each year nationally, the CDC states.

Symptoms occur four to 10 days after infection and include headache, fever, chills and vomiting.

A milder form of the disease often runs its course in a week or two, with possible chills and fever, but no nervous system involvement.