Patti Webb remembers the moment clearly — her dad was sitting in a chair watching the football game and she expressed concern about his ailments.
Achy with a headache, nausea and other symptoms, William Walsh told her he simply had the flu.
"I told him I'd see him next week," she recalled about that day last fall.
A few days later, Walsh, 72, was in a coma. "He never came back to us," she said.
All because of one mosquito bite. Walsh, a longtime Newburyport resident, died in October of Eastern equine encephalitis five weeks after the symptoms first appeared. Active and healthy, he had just turned 73.
EEE is transmitted to mosquitoes from infected birds. When a person comes in contact with the virus from an infected mosquito, some show no symptoms, while others will see a range from mild flu-like symptoms to inflammation of the brain, which can lead to coma or death.
In the months since Walsh's death, Webb, 46, who lives in Newfields, N.H., is taking her family's story public to show that EEE is a reality. And given the recent weather, it could be a banner year for mosquitoes, beginning as soon as next week.
Walter Montgomery, director of Northeast Mosquito Control, said the rainfall this year will lead to a significant increase in the mosquito population. He anticipates next week will start to bring high numbers, as mosquito traps are already showing an increase.
Some spraying from a helicopter has already taken place in the marshes around the Parker River, and Northeast Mosquito Control was planning to spray last night in areas of Newbury and Georgetown at the request of residents. Twice a week, Northeast Mosquito Control will collect mosquitoes to send into the state's Department of Public Health for testing of EEE and West Nile virus, Montgomery said.
To raise awareness, Webb is working with "Moms Against Triple E" in New Hampshire, after a young child contacted the disease in her hometown of Newfields. She decorated her car with a message telling people to protect themselves against mosquito-borne viruses. She's working on an effort to pass a law in Maine to increase EEE testing. And the Walsh family has created a Facebook page in memory of their father with the hope that it will educate more people about disease.
Webb's goal is to heighten awareness about EEE and other mosquito-borne viruses to spare other families from the agony her family endured.
Webb is urging everyone this summer to practice "the three Cs": Clean up standing water, rain gutters, leaf litter, brush and logs in order to reduce ticks and mosquitoes around the yard; cover up with a long-sleeve shirt and pants; use a DEET-containing insect repellent or other EPA-registered repellent; and check skin daily — both adults' and children's — for ticks after being outside.
Walsh, who lived in Newburyport with his wife, Joan, was a seasonal camper in Naples, Maine. It's there where he contacted EEE, his daughter believes. In the days before he came down with the flu-like symptoms, he was golfing in New Hampshire, Webb said. He kept busy and was a builder, she said.
"He was a very active man," Webb said.
With the recent bout of rainfall this year, Webb says she fears what happened her to father will hit someone else.
"I'm terrified this is going to happen again," she said. "Take every measure you can."
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