deer ticks

Deer tick populations further solidify footing in Maine; ecologists monitor for new species

Patty Wight

Even though ticks may be top of mind during warm weather, they're remaining active well into December. Maine still does not have any established populations of the aggressive lone star tick.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, a carrier of Lyme disease. Preliminary indicators show Lyme disease abating during the summer of 2018 in New England, and public health authorities said they are finding fewer ticks in the environment.

Health

Maine reported record-high number of tickborne disease cases last year

Nicole Ogrysko

Data from the Maine CDC show that the rate of tickborne diseases was especially high among Mainers in the midcoast. Ticks thrive in wet, forested habitats with some humidity, like areas along the Maine coast.

Blacklegged ticks — also called deer ticks — are tiny. This adult female is about the size of a sesame seed.

Health

Cases of Lyme, other tick-borne disease surge again in Maine

Kevin Miller

Cases of several tick-borne diseases surged again in Maine last year, according to a new report from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, rests on a plant.

Environment and Outdoors

A new study finds that deer ticks can survive the cold winter in northern Maine

Robbie Feinberg

Scientists say that insulating leaf litter and snow pack helped ticks to survive.

Date:?? Dr. Michael Levin These "black-legged ticks", Ixodes scapularis, are found on a wide rage of hosts including mammals, birds and reptiles. Black-legged ticks, I. scapularis are known to transmit Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, to humans and animals during feeding, when they insert their mouth parts into the skin of a host, and slowly take in the nutrient-rich host blood.

Health

Waldo County resident dies of rare Powassan virus

Carol Bousquet

The Maine Center for Disease Control says a Waldo County resident has died of Powassan virus after being bitten by an infected deer or woodchuck tick.

Lyme disease is spread by deer ticks like this one. A study finds that some people can be reinfected many times with the bacteria that cause the disease.

Health

Fall is peak time for deer ticks in Maine. Here's how to take precautions

Patty Wight

Deer ticks are found in wooded, leafy, shrubby areas, including yards, and can transmit several diseases.

Health

Tickborne Diseases Down in Maine, But CDC Says Risk Remains High

Patty Wight

The state Center for Disease Control is urging the public to take precautions to prevent exposure to tick-related diseases. That’s because October and…

Health

Warmer Maine Winters And Rising Humidity Mean More Ticks — And Tick-borne Diseases

Patty Wight

This week Maine Public is focusing coverage on climate change, and threats it poses to Maine and to the planet. Among those threats is an increasing…

Environment and Outdoors

Researchers Urge Caution As Powassan Virus Spreads In Ticks Along Coast

Patty Wight

A serious tick-borne disease — other than Lyme — has established itself in southern Maine. Researchers from the Maine Medical Research Institute in…

Environment and Outdoors

Ongoing Drought Means Fewer Deer Ticks

By Michael Casey, The Associated PressCONCORD, N.H. — The drought conditions that have gripped much of the Northeastern U.S. this summer appear to have a…