New York's first person to contract Eastern equine encephalitis -- or EEE -- in almost a decade has died, the governor's office announced Monday as the state declared the virus an "imminent threat to public health.

A New York resident who contracted the first confirmed human case of Eastern equine encephalitis in the state in nearly a decade has died, according to the governor’s office.

On September 20, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) identified its first human case of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) since 2015 in Ulster County. On Monday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that person has died.