(CHARLOTTE OBSERVER) — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan died Monday at age 66 — nearly three years after she was first hospitalized with what doctors later said was encephalitis.
The cause? Powassan virus, a relatively rare tick-borne disease.
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain often caused by an infection like the Powassan virus, according to the Mayo Clinic.
