Maine Hits Three Year Low For Lyme Disease

It seems the last few years that we've been hearing all sorts of stories about the tick situation in Maine, and typically none of them have been good. We likely all know someone who is affected by Lyme Disease, or you might be yourself. But there actually was a silver lining to all the heat and dry weather over this summer.

Deer ticks in Maine are actually slowed down quite a bit by the dry, warm weather. And this year was so hard on them, it has slowed down their breeding pace as well. Which basically means....well, less ticks.

According to the Portland Press Herald, in the late 90's - early 2000's, the average number of reported Lyme disease cases was only a few hundred per year. Then over just a short period, cases skyrocketed to almost 1,500 per year. So far in 2018, we've had fewer than 1,100 case

And field researchers are saying the numbers out in the wild have been steadily falling the last three years, and citing the dry weather as the culprit. So this summer, if we have some long stretches with not quite as much rain as we should have, at least we know Mother Nature is finding one useful way to correct herself.