Newborn left brain damaged 'by virus' after walk near $1m Martha's Vineyard home...now locals fear it's spreading
The one-month-old baby, Lily Belle Sisco, was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital on July 24 with a persistent 102-degree fever.
Lily later started having seizures and was determined to have viral encephalitis. The baby's family learned over the weekend that the cause of the newborn's illness was a tick bite and that the little girl had Powassan - a rare but very serious disease.
The family of the infant said she has suffered brain damage from the infection, but is currently listed as stable and is receiving treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Tiffany and Marcus were shocked that a short walk in their Martha's Vineyard neighborhood caused their newborn to contract the severe illness.
'We certainly had no idea a 20-minute walk on the West Tisbury bike path beside our home, a walk we do most every day, could potentially cause my child her life,' parents Tiffany Sisco and Marcus Sisco wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
The family live in a $1.3 million home in the West Tisbury town of Martha's Vineyard, according to public records.
'Please, please, please check yourselves, your children and your pets. It was the tiniest nymph tick the size of a needle tip,' the parents added.
According to a Facebook page for the family business - Sisco Family Services, their company offers fence and gate contracting in the West Tisbury area.
Lily's Aunt Ashlee Moreis created a GoFundMe to raise money for the family. 'While she has the best medical team in Boston her parents haven't left her side,' she wrote.
She added that Rose, Lily's big sister, is being cared for on Martha's Vineyard by family while her parents are with their newborn.
'Marcus is the sole provider for their family,' the GoFundMe says. 'He has been by Lily's side every moment in this journey.'
So far the fundraising page has raised over $27,000.
The Sisco family said Lily is youngest person to contract Powassan in the world. They are hoping to get their story out so a case like their daughter's is never repeated.
Powassan virus is a rare but serious virus spread through the bite of infected ticks that has become more common in recent years.
Now, amidst one of the worst tick seasons in New England in a long time, cases are on the rise - and the disease is unpreventable and untreatable.
The virus can be spread within just 15 minutes of the tick's bite, and early symptoms can include fever, headache and vomiting.
More serious cases involve brain swelling, seizures and long-term neurological complications.
Only one case of the Powassan virus had been recorded in Martha's Vineyard over the past 20 years, until now. This year alone Massachusetts has seen three confirmed cases.
Most cases of the virus arise in the Northeast and Great Lakes region of Massachusetts from late spring through mid-fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The disease is carried by nymph and adult deer ticks.
'The virus is present every year in a small percentage of deer ticks; fortunately, severe disease remains very rare,' Dr. Sam Telford, a Tufts University professor who has conducted research on Martha's Vineyard, said in a statement.
His lab tested more than 3,500 nymph deer ticks between 2021 and 2024 and found that between one and two percent of deer ticks were infected.
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