Rosemary Shifflett is her typical 3-year-old self, talking and running around. It is a relief for her parents, Erik and Amber.

The toddler contracted Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, a mosquito-borne illness that is untreatable, earlier this month.

Erik Shifflett said he thinks doctors at Children’s Hospital in Boston are “blown away” by the little girl’s recovery.

The state confirmed on Monday, Sept. 14, that the child is the first New Hampshire resident to contract the illness this year.

On Friday, Sept. 11, doctors told the Shiffletts that their daughter would have to undergo speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy and therapy for her fine motor skills.

“Since then, not only is she walking again but she is trying to run. She is talking and won’t stop talking. She is her 3-year-old self again,” Erik Shifflett said.

Now that devastating mosquito bite is behind them, Shifflett said he is focused on making sure that Candia takes action against EEE.

“The focus is going to be one making sure that next year Candia is not resting on its laurels, that we’re actively notifying people in town coming up to EEE season,” Shifflett said. “It is like flu season and the flu shot, there are precautions you can take.”

On Monday, Sept. 14, Shifflett made a plea to Candia selectmen that they start dealing with the mosquito problem.

After hearing from Shiff-lett and others, the board voted to find $2,250 in this year’s budget to spray Moore Park and the Moore School three times before the end of the season to help create a buffer around those areas where children congregate.

Selectman Rick Lazott said he is also working with health officer Bill Hallock to draft a warrant article asking for about $38,000 to institute a mosquito control program next year.

Shifflett said although he is not a big fan of spraying, he supports mosquito abatement at the larval stages. Mosquito pools can be treated with a bacterium that only affects the mosquitoes and treats the problem before mosquitoes reach adulthood and begin to fly, he said.

Shifflett said he is positive that his daughter contracted the illness in her own backyard.

The area is bordered by swamp land and a pond.

A llama and an alpaca just a few miles down the road from the Shifflett home also contracted the illness.

He and his wife put bug spray on Rosemary religiously, but she still seemed to attract the bugs, he said. He planned to bring the issue of the need for notification and mosquito abatement to the Board of Selectmen during their meeting.

Fred Kelley, chairman of the board of selectmen, said Candia does not currently have any mosquito control program because voters turned down a petition warrant article that would have established a program in 2006. Because of that, it was never put back on the warrant.

Shifflett said he is not surprised that it was voted down, and harbors no resentment about it.

“Until something like this hits home it is sort of like, it is not going to happen here,” Shifflett said. “Now that this particular year we have such a high number of mosquito pools testing positive, mosquitoes in the pools testing positive, we are in a designated high-risk area … and now that my daughter has had this incident, people will think this does hit home and we should do more to protect the kids.”

“We are hoping people … think for what’s right and not what is going to save a dollar or two in the pocket of the taxpayer.”

Fifty-nine towns in the state are now on a public health threat list because of EEE.

A horse in Boscawen and a horse in Henniker have also tested positive for the illness.

Shifflett wants to help ensure that no other parents have to go through what he and his family went through over the past two weeks.

“It was a major ordeal of ups and downs but I tell you, we are so elated right now to bring her home tomorrow,” Shifflett said.