Hoosier dies from EEE virus Saturday

 

ELKHART COUNTY--Ind. Another life taken, the first in Indiana, from the triple EEE virus.

68-year-old, Roger Levitz, passed Saturday after being in the hospital for weeks.

This tragic loss comes to be the first fatality in Indiana from the EEE virus that has already taken 10 lives in Michigan this year.

Neighbors say that Levitz was one of the perfect neighbors. Levitz was kind, trusting, and a great outdoors man---they remember him talking about the trips he would take to go fishing in Michigan and how he loved to be out in nature hunting and being with his family.

I spoke with the Elkhart Country Health Department who said that the aerial spraying they did on October 2nd was a success and brought the population of mosquitoes down. 

However, Elkhart County Health Officer Lydia Mertz, says that Levitz contracted the virus in September before the spraying occurred.

Mertz warns the community to still remain vigilant for mosquitoes because they can still remain active until the first hard frost of the year where temperatures go down below 32 degrees.   

As always, health professionals recommend wearing bug spray with the active ingredient DEET, long sleeves, pants, and socks to help protect your skin, as well as avoiding areas that may harbor mosquitoes again, until that hard frost.