Tamworth man recovers from Japanese Encephalitis infection

"I didn't know what was going on at the time," Mr Cullen said.

It was a sunny December 5, and Mr Cullen was mowing lawns in the Hillvue area while covered up wearing tracksuit pants, and work boots with a common t-shirt.

Just after midday, he drove to pick up his wife who noticed he had a locked jaw.

"She thought I was having a stroke," Mr Cullen said.

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Mr Cullen spent about eight days in Tamworth hospital, but it wasn't until doctors did a lumber puncture to draw fluid from the base of his spine that they determined the cause was encephalitis.

"I was having hallucinations, seizures and I experienced a lot of confusion," Mr Cullen said.

"It was like I had dementia because I didn't know what I was doing or where I was half the time and I couldn't hold a conversation.

"It stressed me because I'm normally athletic and fit and on the move all the time."

Mrs Cullen said the hallucinations were so bad that at one stage her husband thought he had leeches stuck to him.

"That was extremely scary," Mrs Cullen said. The hallucinations have since subsided.

After a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication, Mr Cullen is still not fully recovered, and says doctors have advised him it could be another 24 months before he fully recovers.

"I haven't been able to work since," Mr Cullen said.

"I tried to go back for a day, and I did about half a day's work when I started getting headaches and I mean not just your normal everyday headaches, I got migraines as if someone was driving a stake through my head."

The most at-risk season for people being bitten by a mosquito and contracting encephalitis is from about October to about April each year.

A total of 45 people have been infected with Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) since 2021, with seven people dying from the virus during that time. It is not yet known whether the strain Mr Cullen had was JEV.

There is a vaccine to prevent people from contracting the Japanese encephalitis (JEV) strain.

Hunter New England health was contacted for comment but did not provide a response.

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