The state Department of Public Health has announced a man died in 2013 in eastern Connecticut after being infected with the virus that causes eastern equine encephalitis .
It is the first EEE cases ever recorded in the state.
Last year, there was a unexpected rise of mosquitoes carrying the EEE virus in eastern Connecticut, according to Theodore Andreadis, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.
The victim became ill in the fall of 2013. He was tested for West Nile virus _ another mosquito-borne viral disease. However, further testing showed the man had EEE. The Us.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the EEE fatality in April, the public health department said.