WILLIAMSTON, Mich. – Nine days after "perfectly healthy" Gregg McChesney contacted a mosquito-borne virus, he died at the age of 64.
A grandfather and artist, McChesney died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis; a rare illness that has already killed three people in Michigan this year, WOOD reports.
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McChesney's brother, Mark, says he was working with Gregg at his farm as recently as this summer.
"He was perfectly healthy, happy human being and within a matter of nine days he went from perfectly healthy to brain dead," Mark McChesney told the television station. "All of a sudden he had a seizure and next thing you know, he's in the ER and he just never came out of it."
CNN reports five to 10 cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis are reported each year, with nearly 30% ending in death.
Symptoms of the illness include headache, high fever, chills and vomiting.