The Vector-borne Disease Lab is dedicated to the control of emerging tick & mosquito-borne diseases and translating our findings to the general public.
We seek to:
understand the environmental interactions of vectors, hosts, habitats, and climate
monitor the geography of risk
increase public awareness of the threat of tick and mosquito-borne diseases
Check out the TicksinMaine website link below for further information on how to protect yourself and household against ticks in Maine
Submit Your Tick for Identification
In the News
Anaplasmosis in Maine
Center for Disease Control & Prevention Podcast
Ticks & Vector-Borne Diseases: Understanding Prevention and Treatment
Maine Public Radio: Maine Calling
New Tick-Borne Illness In Maine Causes Allergic Reaction to Red Meat
Maine Public Radio
Ticks That Carry Lyme Disease Surviving Winter
The Portland Press Herald
Ticks on Migratory Birds
Bangor Daily News
Does Vinegar Repel Ticks?
Channel 6 News
MMCRI’s Chuck Lubelczyk Interviewed
Channel 8 News: Rare Tick-Borne Illness
Resources
LINKS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Tick Management Handbook by Kirby C. Stafford III, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
- Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Infectious Disease
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Lyme Disease
- American Lyme Disease Foundation
- Iowa State’s Deer Tick Home Page
- University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource
- Cape Cod Extension Tick Information
- Westport Connecticut Tick Information
- Island Institute Tick Information
VIDEO
Chuck Lubelczyk, MMCRI Vector Ecologist, Presents at University of New England:
MMCRI and the Lyme and Vector-borne Disease Laboratory are excited to announce the publication of Dr. Peter Rand’s memoir, Of Ticks and Islands.
Back in 1987, when the first wave of Lyme disease-infected deer ticks began invading Maine from the south, Peter Rand, with infectious disease specialist Dr. Robert Smith, Jr. and MMC researched Eleanor LaCombe established the Lyme Disease Research Laboratory at MMCRI. Dr. Peter Rand was also a MMCRI co-founder with a penchant for research and a love for the Maine coast. These led him to tackle the puzzle of Lyme disease, which had been first described only a decade earlier in Connecticut. As more and more people in New England were coming down with Lyme, it became imperative to understand the parasitic insects that spread it: the deer tick. As his first laboratory, Rand chose Monhegan Island.
Of Ticks and Islands is currently available in paperback and eBook via Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X5R24C . Proceeds from sales will benefit the Vector-borne disease laboratory.
