Dill speaks to PPH about rise in Lyme disease
The Portland Press Herald interviewed Griffin Dill, integrated pest management specialist and director of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Tick Lab, about the rise in Lyme disease in Maine. “Conditions were good for deer tick activity, but people were not outdoors as much during June, so there was not as many chances for ticks to interact with humans. … When the weather is hot and dry, the nymphs are susceptible to drying out, but with the ground saturated, the leaf litter contains high levels of moisture, which allows the ticks to quest for longer periods of time than they might have been able to otherwise,” Dill said. The University of Maine landed $6.2 million in federal funding to research ways to control tick populations, identify emerging tick species and expand public health efforts. Dill said the research tied to the federal money is expected to begin this fall. The Sun Journal shared the PPH report.