Reported cases of a tick-borne disease are swelling in Maine this year, but it’s not Lyme disease. Cases of anaplasmosis, an illness with flu-like symptoms that are similar to Lyme but typically more severe, have jumped from 52 a year in Maine five years ago to 433 this year, through Oct. 24, according to the […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
My shirtless wife was becoming hysterical, convinced the tiny spot on her back was something other than a freckle. “Look again,” she said. So, I did, moving in with a magnifying glass like Sherlock Holmes on his lamest assignment ever. “It’s a freckle,” I told her. “It’s not,” she said, so I looked one more […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Summer forecast: More ticks, mosquitoes
Finally, it’s summer and warm enough to wear shorts and flip-flops. But if you’re outdoors, you may want to adopt a different style: Tuck your long pants into your socks, experts recommend. OK, it’s nerdy. But it’ll mean ticks can’t crawl and bite your skin until they get to your neck, said Jim Dill, pest […]
Posted inMaine
Maine’s climate already changing, with more to come
Though people tend to talk most about climate change during a heat wave or in the wake of a terrible storm, the reality is that it’s a slow, subtle shift that’s scarcely noticeable except over the long haul. But scientists say that Maine is very much feeling its impact. From a rise in the number […]
Posted inMaine
Maine records two cases of encephalitis caused by ticks
AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that the state has recorded two cases of encephalitis caused by a tick-borne disease. Officials announced Wednesday that the Maine CDC was notified last week of two cases of Powassan Encephalitis in adults in Maine’s Mid Coast. Both people are recovering at home […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Ticked Off II: Another tick-borne disease is taking a bite out of Maine
Anaplasmosis can range from no noticeable effects, to flu-like symptoms, to meningitis. In 2001, most Mainers didn’t give Lyme disease much thought. Just 108 people in the state were diagnosed with the tick-borne illness that year — hardly any of them in Androscoggin, Franklin or Oxford counties — and it barely made a blip on […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Outdoors in Maine: Tick season is here. Here are some tips
It didn’t used to be, but in many parts of Maine now, deer ticks are a reality. It’s spring and time to think about the outdoors and proper protection against ticks. Maine had 1,171 cases of Lyme disease reported in 2015. May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month and time to consider a tick-prevention strategy. In […]
Posted inBethel, sj-web
Snowy winter means more ticks this season
With the warmer weather comes a new warning about tick season. It turns out, our harsh winter may actually mean the upcoming tick season will be worse than usual. Researchers said the heavy snow pack acted as a protective blanket for ticks and that will lead to more insects than usual. May is Lyme Disease […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Moose populations down as winter ticks cull herd
PORTLAND — Sportsmen hoping to bag a big moose are seeing increased competition from a tiny parasite that’s cutting down moose populations in New England and across parts of the northern United States, prompting some states to offer hunters fewer permits or halt hunting altogether. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are all issuing fewer moose […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Harsh winter, but Lyme-carrying ticks survived
PORTLAND (AP) — The harsh winter did nothing to cull the nationwide tick population, and health officials are primed for a warm season that could see the number of Lyme disease cases rise. In northern New England, the increase in cases of Lyme correlates with a growing population of deer ticks, which transmit the disease, […]