All five diseases are transmitted by the deer tick.Īfter Lyme, anaplasmosis and babesiosis are the most common, and confirmed diagnoses of both hit an all-time high this year. They are anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi disease and Powassan encephalitis. Though Lyme is the most common tick-borne disease in Maine, there are four other tick-borne diseases that have been documented in the state. Other tick-borne diseases are at an all-time high In addition, efforts are underway to create an effective vaccine for Lyme disease for humans, but there’s currently no indication of when or if a vaccine will make it to the market. Lyme disease is typically treated by a regimen of antibiotics. “But our expectation, based on anaplasmosis and babiosis trending up, is that Lyme will as well.” “It’s a little tricky to talk about cases for 2019 because we’re still processing them all,” Robinson said. But Sara Robinson, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program Director for the Maine CDC, isn’t optimistic that trend will continue for 2019. That number dropped by 24 percent from 2017 to 2018 - from 1,852 cases to 1,405 cases, possibly due to the drought that affected much of the state that summer. In 2017, Maine’s incidence of confirmed Lyme cases was 107 per 100,000 residents, the highest of any state. Here’s rundown on what’s new in the world of ticks in Maine - the good and the bad.Ĭarried and transmitted by the deer tick (also known as black-legged tick), Lyme disease is a serious bacterial infection that if left untreated can damage joints, the heart and the nervous system. In 2019, Maine residents saw a number of new advancements in how Maine is handling this growing problem, including increased public outreach and new testing options for tick-borne diseases. It started in the south and moved up the coast, and it’s moving inland.” “It appears to be continuing to become more common. We know it is,” said Sara Robinson, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program Director for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Deer ticks thrive in warm, wet conditions. Lubelczyk links the high number of ticks this year - especially deer ticks - to the abundance of rain the state experienced in the late spring and early summer. “There were a lot of ticks out there this year,” said Chuck Lubelczyk, a field biologist at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute who conducts surveys of tick populations throughout the state. In response, health care providers, researchers, educators, nonprofits and the government have been working to protect people from this dangerous pest. STATEWIDE (BDN) - Ticks have spread throughout Maine over the past few decades, carrying with them a cocktail of crippling diseases.
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