MHIR Vector-Borne Disease Lab Showcases Research On Tick-Borne Illness

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

SCARBOROUGH, Maine – Scientists with the Vector-Borne Disease Lab at the MaineHealth Institute for Research (MHIR) are taking part in

several studies, surveys and other research projects this spring and summer to help better understand ticks and the diseases they carry.

Among the projects:

• Dr. Robert Smith, the director of the Vector-Borne Disease Lab, is the clinical operations lead for a five-year study of post-treatment Lyme disease in North America. MaineHealth is a collaborating institution with Tufts University School of Medicine in the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, that is currently enrolling participants with new onset of Lyme disease. The goal is to understand mechanisms causing delayed recovery after treatment and to search for biomarkers that are different in patients who go on to have persistent Lyme disease symptoms from those who fully recover from the disease. Participants must have new onset of Lyme disease symptoms and be referred by a physician.
• Vector Ecologist Chuck Lubelczyk is managing a five-year community-based tick control research project that is supported by the CDC with study sites in Maine and Connecticut. He also is coordinating Maine’s statewide tick and mosquito surveillance efforts, with several members of lab submitting ticks and mosquitoes for testing at the state Environmental Health and Testing Laboratory in Augusta. They are watching to see if the Lone Star Tick, whose bite can cause an allergy to red meat, has made its way to Maine.
• Staff Scientist Rebecca Robich, PhD, is studying whether overwintering deer ticks express certain proteins that help them survive the harsh environmental conditions of winter.  She is also working with college interns this summer to determine the mammalian blood meal source for ticks infected with Powassan virus, a rare tick-borne virus that can cause encephalitis disease in humans.

Maine had a record 3,218 preliminary cases of Lyme disease along with 1,284 preliminary cases of Anaplasmosis and 309 preliminary cases of Babesiosis in 2024, according to the Maine CDC.  People seeking additional information about ticks and tick control methods can find resources on the MHIR website including:

• Tips on controlling ticks and mosquitoes, as well as how to remove attached ticks
• Descriptions of ticks in Maine
• Information on tick-borne diseases

The CDC also has several resources with more information on vector-borne diseases on its website.