Dill speaks with media about prevalence of ticks in Maine
Griffin Dill, an integrated pest management professional with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with the Portland Press Herald and Fosters.com for articles about the prevalence of ticks in Maine this season. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 146 Lyme cases through May 23, the Press Herald reported. So far, 41 percent of the 400 deer ticks sent to the University of Maine’s Tick Identification Lab have tested positive for Lyme, with 8 percent carrying anaplasmosis, another tick-borne disease, according to Dill. “The conditions are ripe for ticks to be particularly active,” Dill told the Press Herald. “As the weather gets warmer, we start seeing a lot more human-tick interactions.” Fosters.com referred to southern Maine as “tick central” for the state. The farther north you go, the tick populations drastically drop off, Dill said. “They’ve been established longer in southern and coastal counties where the temperatures are warmer,” he said. “There’s more time for infections to cycle between ticks and the wildlife population.” The Bangor Daily News published the Fosters.com article.