What is the forecast for ticks and Lyme disease this year? Has the extended cold pushed their arrival later—or are they out there already? Are there other vector-borne diseases that are of particular concern?
Guests
- Rob Smith, director & co-founder of the Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory, director of the division of infectious disease at Maine Medical Center and recently named to the U.S. DHHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group
- Chuck Lubelczyk, field biologist with the Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory at Maine Medical Center
Resources
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension tick identification lab
- Maine Medical Center Research Institute tick-borne diseases
- Press Herald: Lyme cases in Maine spiked again in 2017 to another record
- Bangor Daily News: ‘Bone-chilling’ weather unlikely to kill off ticks before spring, researchers say
- Press Herald: Pesticides may get rid of ticks, but at what cost?
- Consumer Reports: Bait Boxes Are a Safe Way to Keep Ticks Out of Your Yard
- Bigelow Lab tick encounter forecast