News Center Maine quotes Dill in report on Lyme disease risk amid pandemic

News Center Maine quoted Griffin Dill, an integrated pest management professional with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, in a report on Lyme disease risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. People are more likely to spend time outside to combat isolation, but need to take precautions to protect themselves and their pets from deer ticks that can carry Lyme disease. The Tick Lab at UMaine has received more than 100 ticks for testing since January, nearly three times as many as the same period last year. More than half of those ticks carried the bacteria that causes Lyme, the report states. People are encouraged to do tick checks after being outdoors, and to wear protective clothing and use repellent containing permethrin to protect against Lyme. “There is no evidence that ticks, mosquitoes, biting pests are able to transmit the coronavirus,” said Dill.