Lincoln County has had among the highest rate of tick-borne illness in the state over the last two years and following a mild winter, biologist Chuck Lubelczyk expects the tick population to continue to rise.

“We are expecting it to be very active as far as the ticks go,” said Lubelczyk, a researcher at Maine Medical Center’s Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory. “Unless something dramatic happens like a drought or an extremely cold winter, the numbers (of ticks) are just slowly and incrementally going up.”

More ticks means more tick borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, and a need for new habits such as using insect repellents or long pants and sleeves and checking for ticks regularly, especially after walking in grassy or wooded areas where ticks are most likely to be present.

Spotting ticks soon after they have attached themselves is vital, said Lubelczyk, because in most cases ticks have to be attached for 36 hours or more to transmit disease.
Taking precautions is important not only because Lyme disease is present at very high rates in Lincoln County and the Midcoast, but also because new tick-borne diseases that cause very severe flu-like symptoms have arrived.

In 2014, the last year for which final numbers are available, Lincoln County had the second highest rate of Lyme disease in the state with 240 cases per 100,000, according to the Maine Centers for Disease Control. Neighboring Knox County had the highest rate with 267 per 100,000.

Maine as a state had the highest rate of Lyme disease in the country in 2014 with 87.9 cases per 100,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
National figures are not available for 2015 but according to preliminary data from the Maine CDC, the number of cases of Lyme disease dropped last year in Maine overall and in Lincoln County. Lincoln County still had the third highest rate of Lyme disease in the state with roughly 217 cases per 100,000.

In 2015, Lincoln County also had the state’s highest incidence of anaplasmosis and babesiosis, two tick-borne illnesses that are relatively new in the midcoast. Both can cause very serious flu-like symptoms, including headaches, weakness, chills and nausea. Both can also be fatal, particularly to the very young and the very old or to people with impaired immune symptoms.

Lincoln Medical Partners Physician Timothy Goltz, MD, said that in addition to seeing more cases of Lyme disease, he has also diagnosed several cases of anaplasmosis.

“The other big trend we are seeing is that tick bites are happening for a much bigger percentage of the year,” said Dr. Goltz, who said he found ticks on his dog in February. “It is turning into more of a year-round issue.”

As alarming as those trends may seem, Dr. Goltz said it is important to keep them in perspective, and that means taking precautions when you go out rather than staying indoors and surfing the Internet.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes, both of which are at epidemic levels, are much bigger threats to most people’s health than Lyme disease, said Dr. Goltz, and both are related to sedentary lifestyles.

“People should go outside and go hiking but when they come back, they should look for ticks,” said Dr. Goltz.

Deer ticks are most likely to be found in grassy or woody areas, particularly in moist or humid environments.

Lyme disease is spread by the bite of infected blacklegged or deer ticks. Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic bulls-eye rash. It can be treated with antibiotics but if untreated, it can cause severe joint pain, nerve pain and an irregular heartbeat and other debilitating symptoms.

Like Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis are spread primarily through the bite of deer ticks. Most people who contract one or more of the diseases are infected in the spring or summer when juvenile deer ticks are tiny – about the size of a poppy seed – and difficult to spot.

Precautions against tick-borne diseases (Source U.S. Centers for Disease Control):

• Ticks live in moist or humid environments in woody or grassy areas. When hiking, walk in the center of trails and when possible and wear long pants and sleeves.
• Use permethrin on clothes, boots and any camping gear. Permethrin kills ticks and is usually effective after several washing cycles. Use a repellant with DEET on skin.
• After you come in from outdoors, check your skin and your clothing for signs of ticks. Remove ticks if you find them. Washing clothes may not kill ticks, but the high heat cycle in the dryer normally does.
• Shower soon after coming indoors and check skin everywhere (including under arms, in and around ears, belly button and scalp) for ticks.
• If you find a tick, remove it. Watch for signs of illness, such as a rash, fever, flu-like symptoms or aching joints in the days and weeks after the tick bite and see your health care provider if symptoms are present.
• For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/features/stopticks/.