FREETOWN, Mass. (WBZ/CNN/WFLA) – A 58-year-old Massachusetts man has died after contracting mosquito-borne Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), according to his family.
WBZ reports Scott Mosman was the 10th person to be diagnosed with EEE in Massachusetts. At least four other people, three in Michigan and one in Rhode Island, also died from the virus.
Mosman died in hospice care last week.
“We were all hoping and praying he was gonna get better. He didn’t get better. The disease was too much for him,” said Keith Mosman, Scott’s brother. “And a little mosquito took down this guy. My brother was one of the toughest guys you ever meet.”
Mosman’s family says they knew something was wrong when he became weak and fell inside his Taunton home.
He was immediately rushed to the hospital.
“They didn’t know what was wrong with him at the time and they figured out it was probably EEE,” Keith Mosman said.
Right now, it’s still unclear where Scott was when he was bitten.
“The danger is that it can happen to anybody,” Keith Mosman said.
“He was the biggest giver you ever met. In a blizzard if you say you were cold he would take his shirt off and give it to you,” his brother recalled. “I’m going to miss him when I call him and he’s not there to answer.”
A GoFundMe page was set up to help Mosman’s 14-year-old son Justin with college expenses.
Mosman’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed by officials.
The CDC says EEE is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.
Those who become infected with EEE may experience ever, headache, irritability, restlessness, drowsiness, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, cyanosis, convulsions, and coma.
Those 50 and over are more at risk for developing severe disease when infected with EEE.
According to the CDC, most cases of EEE have been reported from Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina.
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