#Lyme-disease

• Rare illness spread by bite of infected ticks

  Maine CDC confirms fatal case of Powassan virus in Waldo County

  Wed, 04/20/2022 - 12:45pm

  

  AUGUSTA – The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed April 20 a fatal case of Powassan virus infection in a Waldo County resident. The adult developed neurologic symptoms and died while in the hospital. This person likely became infected in Maine. Cases of Powassan virus are rare in the United States, with about 25 cases reported each year since 2015. Maine has identified 14 cases since 2010. Humans become infected with Powassan through the bite of an infected deer or...

• Maine CDC reports second Powassan virus case, this time in Knox County resident

  Mon, 07/26/2021 - 5:00pm

  

  AUGUSTA — The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has confirmed the state’s second case of Powassan virus infection in 2021. Laboratory tests confirmed the case in a Knox County resident who likely became infected in Maine during June. Maine CDC confirmed the first case of Powassan virus in 2021 in late June, in a Waldo County resident who is recovering after spending time in the hospital. Cases of Powassan are rare in the United States, with about 25 cases reported each...

• Lyme disease vaccine begins human clinical trial

  Sun, 07/04/2021 - 9:15am

  

  WORCESTER, Mass. — A vaccine with the potential to prevent Lyme disease has entered the clinical trial stage, and could be available to the public in the the spring of 2023, according to an article published last February on WBUR, the B.oston radio station Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, and cases have been on the rise in Maine. The Maine Center for Disease Control announced in January 2020 the agency had received a record number of...
• Rare illness caused by tick bite is Maine's first case in 2021

  Maine CDC reports case of Powassan virus in Waldo County resident

  Tue, 06/29/2021 - 11:30am

  

  AUGUSTA — The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has confirmed the states first case of Powassan virus infection in 2021. A Waldo County resident who likely became infected in Maine is recovering after spending time in the hospital, according to a news release. Cases of Powassan are rare in the United States, with about 25 cases reported each year since 2015, the release noted, and Maine has identified nine cases since 2010. Humans become infected with Powassan through...
• Lyme Disease Awareness Month: Stop. Check. Prevent

  Simple steps to avoiding tickborne diseases

  Tue, 05/04/2021 - 10:30pm

  

  AUGUSTA – The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) urges the state’s residents and visitors to focus on tick prevention during May, Lyme Disease Awareness Month . This year’s Lyme Disease Awareness Month theme is “Stop. Check. Prevent.” The campaign asks Maine people to stop frequently to check for ticks because personal prevention measures are the best way to keep from getting a tickborne disease. Deer ticks in Maine can carry the germs that cause diseases including Lyme...
• nine Maine counties; additional citizen scientists sought

  Blacklegged tick nymphs prominent in Knox County

  Thu, 04/22/2021 - 6:00pm

  

  In 2020, the first year of Maine Forest Tick Survey at the University of Maine, 116 volunteer citizen scientists in nine southern and coastal Maine counties collected more than 2,000 specimens, 1,643 of which were ticks. Researchers tested 445 of those ticks — blacklegged tick nymphs — for pathogens. The largest number of blacklegged tick nymphs were collected in Knox County, followed by Kennebec County. The Maine Forest Tick Survey at the University of Maine has issued its...

• U.S. health officials launch $25 million effort to fight tick-borne diseases

  Tue, 10/13/2020 - 10:30pm

  

  WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is launching LymeX, a new $25 million effort to fight tick-borne diseases. LymeX is the largest public-private partnership to combat Lyme disease in history and will provide awards to improve data about tick-borne diseases; raise awareness; and accelerate the discovery of diagnostic tools, testing, and implementation, according to a news release. LymeX is being led by DHHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen...
• Reports of tickborne illnesses are down in 2020, but risk remains

  Maine CDC urges precautions against ticks ahead of projected peak

  Wed, 10/07/2020 - 3:30pm

  

  AUGUSTA — The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) urges the public to take precautions against ticks in October and November, when the state typically experiences a second peak in adult deer tick activity. Deer ticks can carry the germs that cause tickborne diseases such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis, according to a news release. These germs spread through the bite of an infected deer tick. Deer ticks are most commonly found in wooded, leafy, and shrubby...

• Boothbay Harbor man recovering from near fatal Lyme disease infection

  Wed, 08/12/2020 - 1:45pm

  

  July 15 began as a difficult day for Andrew Hawke, a 23-year-old Boothbay Harbor lobsterman. He woke up around 6:30 a.m. and complained about being “extremely tired.” He sat beside his bed and shortly afterwards went unconscious and collapsed. His girlfriend called 9-1-1 and, after a brief observation, paramedics determined something “funky” was going on in his heart. Paramedics transported him to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick so he’d be close to Maine Medical Center in Portland, according to...

• Lyme cases reported to Maine CDC in 2019 reach record high

  Thu, 01/16/2020 - 11:30am

  AUGUSTA — The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received a record number of Lyme disease case reports from health providers in 2019 with 2,079 cases as of today, Jan. 16. This is the highest number of cases ever reported in the state, and the number may continue to rise as providers make additional case reports, according to a news release issued Jan. 16. Lyme disease is caused by bacteria carried by infected deer ticks. The hallmark sign of the disease is a rash referred to...
• Take precautions through November

  Maine records steep increase in tick-borne anaplasmosis, babesiosis

  Fri, 10/04/2019 - 7:30pm

  

  Maine has seen significant increases in reported cases of the tickborne illnesses anaplasmosis and babesiosis in 2019, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. As of October 1, the CDC recorded 556 cases of anaplasmosis and 124 cases of babesiosis. That is an all-time annual high for babesiosis, and Maine is on track to surpass the record high of 663 cases of anaplasmosis set in 2017. These increases in cases of anaplasmosis and babesiosis come as Maine...
• Lyme Time with Paula Jackson Jones

  Do your tick checks

  Tue, 07/10/2018 - 2:00pm

  Summertime is meant for fun, rest and relaxation and enjoying the company of friends and family with all that Maine has to offer. When you go to the beach, you bring sunscreen. You have a plan. When you go boating, you wear life vests. You have a plan. And when you venture outdoors, you also need a plan. Did you know that children ages 5-14 and adults over 64 make up the highest category of “at-risk” for new cases of Lyme and tick-borne diseases each year? Which is why when we come in from...

• Maine Natives to Serve on Federal Tick-borne Disease Task Force

  Sun, 05/06/2018 - 8:15pm

  

  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced Paula Jackson Jones as one of 53 individuals who have been selected to serve on one of six subcommittees of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. A Nobleboro native who graduated from Nobleboro Central School and Lincoln Academy, Jackson Jones, is the President and Co-Founder of Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education (MLDSE). Recently, she was nominated by members of her subcommittee to fill the vacant Co-Chair position on...
• Lyme Time with Paula Jackson Jones

  Tick-borne disease in Maine: Two standards of care

  Tue, 09/26/2017 - 5:30pm

  With an increase in Lyme and tick-borne cases, patients are reporting a variance in how they are or are not being treated. Why? The simple answer is that there are two standards of care, however, the reality is that it’s far more complicated than that. I’ll do my best to explain this is layman’s terms and not get too overly complicated. The history of Lyme disease In the early 1970s, a group of children in Lyme, Connecticut, were suffering from puzzling and debilitating health issues. Initially...
• From Washington, D.C.

  King Discusses prevention strategies for vector-borne diseases

  Wed, 08/30/2017 - 4:45pm

  BAR HARBOR— U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined researchers, scientists, health professionals, and Acadia National Park officials to discuss strategies to prevent vector-borne diseases like Lyme and bolster research and education initiatives to help combat these diseases. Senator King toured the Mosquito Project at Sieur de Monts Nature Center and learned about the Tick Project at the Compass Harbor, Schooner Head Trailhead. This spring, Senator King reintroduced the Strengthening...
• Angelica Gaudreau’s grueling battle

  Woman takes charge of her health after tick bite causes Lyme disease

  Fri, 06/23/2017 - 9:30am

  

  ROCKLAND — Maine is experiencing an unprecedented surge in ticks this year. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,464 cases of Lyme cases in 2016 and recently confirmed that two Midcoast residents were diagnosed with the rare Powassan Encephalitis, also known as deer tick virus. One woman has a message for us all: Do not underestimate what one little tick bite can do to you. Angelica Gaudreau, a massage therapist in Rockland, was in peak shape of her life, when a pink...

• Adults over 65 had the highest rates of Lyme Disease in 2016

  Thu, 06/15/2017 - 9:30pm

  

  AUGUSTA — Data released on the Maine Tracking Network by Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) reported that adults over the age of 65 years had the highest rates of Lyme disease in the state last year. While the number of reported cases of the disease increased for all ages in 2016, adults over the age of 65 experienced the sharpest increase, topping 400 reported cases, or 162 cases per 100,000 people in this age group alone. "In light of this data, we are calling on...

• Midcoast continues to represent in rise of reported tick-borne illnesses

  Thu, 08/18/2016 - 3:45pm

  

  Reports of multiple tick-borne diseases to Maine Center for Disease Control are indicating an increase in all tick-borne diseases, according to the Aug. 18 newsletter from that state agency. Physicians have already reported more anaplasmosis cases so far this year than all of last year, and babesiosis and Lyme numbers are steadily increasing as well. Providers should be aware of the risk and prevalence of these diseases and consider them in their diagnoses, the CDC said, in its newsletter...
• KNOX COUNTY HAS HIGEST RATE OF LYME DISEASE

  Rockland Public Library to participate in the Tick Free ME program

  Sat, 05/07/2016 - 6:45am

  

  ROCKLAND — The Rockland Public Library has partnered with Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention for the Tick-Free ME Challenge. In 2014, Knox County reported the highest rates of Lyme disease for all of Maine's Counties, with rates far above the statewide average. The Midcoast also reported the highest rates of Lyme disease of all eight districts in Maine. Aside from Lyme disease, there are three other tick-borne diseases in Maine: Babesia, Anaplasmosis, and Powassan. Babesia and...

• I have Lyme and it has strengthened my resolve to pursue medicine, be a compassionate doctor

  Fri, 04/01/2016 - 5:00pm

  

  In September of 2015, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. In the months prior, I hadn't known what was going wrong with me. I was exhausted, sore and lacked focus or motivation for some time. As a dedicated cellist, athlete, dancer and scholar, these were all things I had never really experienced before. My body felt easily overwhelmed. In any situation of stress I would get rashes covering my face and neck and go into bed for days with exhaustion. My parents took me to many allergy specialists...

• HealthGuide: Preventing Lyme and other tickborne infections

  Fri, 06/13/2014 - 12:15pm

  

  If you've been keeping up with the news lately, you've probably heard a lot about ticks; maybe even more than usual. I know that this time of year everyone is talking about Lyme disease, but this year another tickborne infection is landing in the headlines: Powassan virus. When Midcoast artist Lyn Snow passed away from the virus last fall, it ushered in a new awareness of this rare, but potentially deadly virus. Tickborne infections more commonly seen in Maine include Lyme disease, anaplasmosis...
• You never know what pathogen they are carrying

  Lincolnville tick bite lands Rockport man in hospital

  Thu, 06/12/2014 - 1:30am

  

  ROCKPORT — Steve Hand is not a man who gets tired, but last month he was wiped out. He made a visit to the third floor of the Knox Mill in Camden in mid-May, and when it came time to leave, he walked slowly to the elevator, shaking his head — “I won’t make it down the stairs.” Normally robust, this is a man always on the move: He flies regularly from one end of the country for work, staying up late in airports and returning back to Rockport early in the morning to play or coach hockey, go...
• Tick Talk, and we ain’t talking Hickory Dicory Doc

  Knox and Waldo counties considered tick central. Know the biology, don't get bit

  Fri, 05/31/2013 - 2:15pm

  

  CAMDEN — Listen up, because there will be a test at the end of this article. And get a bag of Raisenettes to munch while you read. Lyme disease specialist Dr. Bea Szantyr presented Tick Talk, an informative look at ticks, the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi , which causes Lyme disease, the incidence of Lyme disease in Maine and steps you can take to protect yourself, family and pets. The talk was held recently at the Camden Public Library. Definition: Any of numerous small bloodsucking...