A Concord man is in serious condition with the rare Powassan disease that he contracted from a tick bite he received locally.
He is one of the few people in the state who have contracted the virus, Powassan virus, which can attack the central nervous system, causing encephalitis, inflammation of brain tissue, and long-term neurological damage.
Sharon Regan said her husband, John, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital last week after two weeks in Concord Hospital and will require “intense rehab for months” to recover.
“It’s a scary, scary, scary thing,” she said. “We want people to be aware. Be vigilant about finding and removing ticks.”
Powassan is one of four diseases that can be transmitted by bites of the blacklegged tick, often known as the deer tick. Lyme disease is by far the most common, but two others, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, are increasingly showing up here.
Powassan is much rarer. The Department of Health and Human Services said the state diagnoses 3-4 individuals with Powassan each year, although not all of those may have contracted the disease within the state.
No vaccine or specific treatment exists at this time. The only way to avoid it is to avoid being bitten by an infected tick.
Sharon Regan said they found the tick lodged on John Regan about three weeks ago. They removed it and he was given doxycycline, the antibiotic recommended to help control Lyme disease. But his flu-like symptoms worsened and he went to Concord Hospital where he was taken to the ICU, and finally was transferred to Mass General.
The family only recently received official confirmation of the Powassan diagnosis because the clinical test is done by just a few laboratories.
John Regan, 66, and Sharon are both lifelong Concord residents. He retired four months ago from his career as a pharmacist and his future health remains uncertain.
“It’s not fair,” said Sharon Regan.
The family doesn’t know exactly where he picked up the tick.
“He’s a turkey hunter, could have been in the woods, could have been a nature walk. It could have been in our own backyard,” Sharon said.
Powassan is not related to alpha-gal syndrome, a very serious disease transmitted by a different species of tick, the Lone Star tick. Those ticks have not traditionally been found in New England but are moving north as winters warm.
