![]() The ticks were removed from the sites for study last week, after a winter that was the longest and probably the coldest of the past three, Lubelczyk said.Įxcept for a slight dip in 2015, Maine has experienced record numbers of Lyme cases every year since 2011. ![]() Deer ticks at outdoor sites in Cape Elizabeth and New Haven, Connecticut, are placed in vials in varying locations – with some left exposed and others deposited under snow or leaves or both. ![]() Research institute scientists have been studying how deer ticks live through winter, and the results so far suggest that ticks can survive a harsh Maine winter, at least by recent standards, especially when the ticks are covered by leaves and snow.įor the past three winters, the research institute has partnered with Connecticut state government to conduct field studies. Reported cases of Lyme and anaplasmosis in Maine have increased dramatically in recent years, and scientists suspect climate change is a major factor in extending the range of the deer tick into northern Maine. The deer tick has emerged as a major public health threat, a carrier of Lyme and other bacterial diseases, such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis. They’ve woken up,” said Charles Lubelczyk, field biologist with the Maine Medical Center Research Institute in Scarborough. As the weather has warmed this month – including some days when temperatures reached the 70s and 80s – the arachnids have emerged from a hibernation-like state under an insulating blanket of snow and leaves.
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