Press Herald interviews Dill about confirmed cases of rare tick-borne virus
Griffin Dill, an integrated pest management professional with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with the Portland Press Herald for an article about two confirmed Maine cases of the Powassan virus, which is transmitted primarily through deer tick bites. Both midcoast Maine residents were hospitalized with encephalitis in late April but have since been released and are recovering, according to the article. Dill said ticks are becoming more and more a part of life in Maine. “We’ve created the right conditions for them to be prevalent and, because it’s Maine, we’re out there with them,” he said. “We don’t want people to be afraid to go outside. It’s just something to be aware of so we can take precautions.” Dill, who runs UMaine Extension’s tick ID program, said he has analyzed about twice as many tick submissions this year as he had at this time last year. UMaine Extension’s free tick identification service also was mentioned in reports by WABI (Channel 5), WLBZ (Channel 2) and VillageSoup.