UMaine Extension Diagnostic and Research Laboratory: PUBLIC HEALTH

Maine faces serious public health threats from tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan virus, as well as the mosquito-borne diseases West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).

• The reported cases of Lyme disease and other serious illnesses from Maine’s expanding tick population have been steadily increasing.

• University of Maine Cooperative Extension is now operating the only tick identification program in the entire state.

• The new lab will allow screening of ticks for Lyme disease and other disease-causing organisms.

• Moving beyond the simple annoyance posed by mosquitoes, the potentially deadly West Nile virus and EEE are increasingly being found in Maine’s mosquito population.

• The new lab will facilitate statewide mosquito monitoring and a disease prevention/awareness program to combat the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

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