Three years ago, Christopher “C.J.” Burke of Goffstown was just like any other child – content to run around in the backyard playing soccer and baseball with his brothers and sisters.

But now, at the age of 7, C.J. struggles to keep up with his siblings and peers.

In August 2005, C.J. was diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). The encephalitis left four parts of his brain scarred, the biggest being the ones controlling speech and memory.

“He will never be completely recovered from this,” said his mother, Linda Burke. “It will be a hard road.”

Burke said C.J. is now unstable on his feet and has a learning disability; he has a difficult time processing a lot of information. C.J. is also now a special education student and will enter the second grade in the fall.

C.J. spent six weeks in the care of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, and another six weeks at Spaulding Hospital in Massachusetts for rehabilitation.

And for the past three years, he has been undergoing physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy. He also has continuing visits with Dartmouth- Hitchcok. His mother hopes the physical therapy may end soon, but the OT and speech therapy will be ongoing for the near future.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, C.J.’s physical health is an 8, and his mental health is a 4,” said Burke.

Since C.J. was diagnosed with EEE, the family has definitely taken steps to try to avoid any other family members falling ill, she said.

“We had a family meeting just last week,” she said. Burke and her husband, Christopher, who have 14 children, now make sure everyone wears bug spray when they go outside. They also try to keep standing water in the yard to a minimum and have their children go back into the house during the evening when mosquitoes are out in force.

Burke said she has also joined the Arbovirus Task Force to help fight the spread of EEE, West Nile Virus and bird flu.