Robert Weymouth of Topsham died on Sunday as a result of complications from the Powassan virus, a highly rare tick-borne infection.
Weymouth’s friend Scott Lanpher who has known Weymouth for 13 years said – “Unbelievable that something like a tick can take someone away that quickly.”
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Who was Robert Weymouth?
Born in 1965, Robert Weymouth was a racer living in Topsham. For the previous six years, Weymouth worked as a driver for his friend Scott Lanpher’s company, Scott’s Recreation.
Weymouth and Lanpher, according to Lanpher, first met at a racetrack, where their friendship also had its start. Weymouth was an avid racer.
Weymouth was married.
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Lanpher passed away on May 19, 2023 of Powassan virus. He is the third man to die of this condition.
Dr. Rob Smith, an infectious disease physician at Maine Medical Center, says it’s a rare disease.
It is still a mystery to experts. He claims that if you become sick, there are little, if any, warning indications. However, if you do, you may have symptoms such as a temperature or a headache.
Antibody testing can be used to establish whether or not a person has been infected with the virus. However, no specific treatment is available. Smith claims that Weymouth’s death is the only one he is aware of in Maine this year, and that most individuals survive. According to him, only 1-2 percent of ticks in the state carry the virus.
That’s one of the reasons Weymouth’s death surprised friends and relatives.
Ticks can be active whenever it’s warm enough outside to do so, but they’re most active in the spring, summer, and fall.
The virus claimed the lives of two persons, making this the third Powassan death in the state since 2015. It should be noted that the virus is spread to people through the bite of an infected deer tick or woodchuck tick.
