9 days of a man from Michigan died last month after contracting the rare Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus from a mosquito earlier in the summer, and now health experts are saying the case could highlight an emerging medical threat in the northeastern United States.

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Michigan man dies after mosquito bite

According to his family, Gregg McChesney, 64, was bitten by a mosquito while helping install docks on a pond. A few days later, he suddenly had a seizure. Gregg´s brother, Mark, said, ¨Next thing you know, he’s

in the [ED] and he just never came out of it.¨

According to Mark, it was as if Gregg went from being ¨perfectly healthy to brain dead¨; within nine days of contracting the virus.

Days after Gregg passed, doctors confirmed that he´d contracted EEE.

Gregg is one of at least seven people from Michigan who were infected with EEE in July, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.