Man sick with EEE was in New England

CONCORD, N.H. – A Scottish man diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis may have contracted the disease in New Hampshire or Rhode Island, health officials said Wednesday.

Officials said that the man was in New England for about six weeks, spending time fishing in the North Conway area, as well as three locations in Rhode Island.

Officials said that he showed symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease when he got back to Scotland.

“So where the person got this infection, we don’t know, and there is no way that we can prove if it’s one state or another or in what part of the states, so it is impossible to take control measures,” said Jose Montero, New Hampshire state epidemiologist.

The patient’s sister said he suffered a seizure and is currently in a coma.

In an e-mail the woman sent to WMUR-TV, she said her brother mentioned he was covered in mosquito bites during his New Hampshire trip. But state health officials said the North Conway region has never been prone to or tested for EEE, and it’s too late in the year to start trapping mosquitoes.

“At this time of the year, in the north part of the state, which is where this person was vacationing and fishing, temperatures are already dropping in the evening, and mosquito activity is incredibly low,” Montero said.