(WFRV) – As of June 2025, officials with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) have reported three cases of Powassan virus (POWV) disease that involved hospitalization, including one death.
Wisconsin DHS officials noted that all three cases have been reported in adult Wisconsin residents.
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The release comes at a potential increase in POWV cases after 12 were reported in Wisconsin during 2024. The 12 from last year was the record for Wisconsin, and was the second highest nationwide in 2024, only behind Minnesota with 14.
POWV is a tickborne virus spread by the blacklegged (deer) tick, the same tick that spreads Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and several other diseases in Wisconsin.
Officials say the infection can cause a mild febrile illness or neurologic disease that often presents as meningitis or encephalitis.
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The Wisconsin DHS recommends that health care providers:
- Consider POWV disease in patients with unexplained neurologic disease with known or possible tick exposure one to five weeks before illness onset.
- Order the appropriate diagnostic testing for patients with suspected POWV disease.
- POWV IgM testing in serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or
- POWV IgM in serum or CSF and POWV RT-PCR in whole blood, serum, or CSF, which may be particularly helpful for immunocompromised patients.
- Ensure timely reporting of POWV infections to state or local public health authorities.
- Promote tick bite prevention measures among individuals who spend time working or recreating outdoors, especially in the northern half of Wisconsin.
Local 5 will update this story as more information gets released.
