Lyme disease is moving up the coast of Maine, as coastal areas see an increase in development and landscaped habitat. Incidents in Washington County were recorded for the first time in 2008 with three cases, a number far lower than counties such as York, Cumberland and Kennebec are documenting. York had 291 recorded cases for that year. Hancock County recorded 13. The 2009 report by the Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) to the legislature on Lyme disease notes that 2008 saw a 66% increase in reported cases of the disease at the statewide level.

A case in Eastport

About a month ago Meg McGarvey of Eastport went to bed one Monday evening suffering from flu-like symptoms. "I had teeth-chattering chills." She woke up the following morning with a headache, fever, skin that was sensitive to touch and joints that ached with pain. Thinking of swine flu, she went to the Rowland B. French Medical Center and had a blood test drawn and sent to the CDC. It came back negative for flu, but a subsequent blood test came back positive for Lyme disease. By that time, she says, the joint pain was excruciating, making it close to impossible to get in and out of a sitting position. After a week of medication, her symptoms began to subside.

"A neighbor counted 20-24 deer bedded down behind her house," McGarvey says of the deer population that roams Moose Island. "I love deer and watching them," but with her diagnosis she wants others to be aware of the risk associated with the many deer on the island. "It's so rural here C kids are out berry picking and all that."

Unlike many who find they have Lyme disease, McGarvey did not exhibit the classic bulls-eye or expanding rash around the tick bite. She does remember a bug bite that itched far more than usual, which occurred about two weeks before she came down with her flu-like symptoms. Of the 878 Maine cases recorded in 2008, 59% noticed the identifying rash.

The deer tick's habitat

Lyme disease is the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried by the deer tick, but the tick does not find a ride only on deer. Lee Kantar, the state deer biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, explains that the deer numbers don't tell the whole picture to preventing Lyme disease. Along with deer, "the black-legged tick attaches to small rodents and migratory songbirds. What people really need to look at is how Lyme is transmitted and what they can do about it."

While keeping track of deer population numbers and keeping those numbers below 15 deer per square mile is a good preventive measure, Kantar also points out that keeping a mown buffer around living areas keeps ticks away. "They dry out in the sun." Much like humans during the dog-days of summer, deer ticks will seek the shade. Another area of concern, says Kantar, is to notice where rodents find homes. Woodpiles should be kept away from houses. Added to those two measures should be dress and personal protection, such as tucking pants into socks when out in the woods and fields and using insect repellents that will ward off ticks.

Washington County has a deer population density of six and one-half per square mile, well below the density that causes concern about Lyme disease. Kantar notes that deer densities are stagnant and the population not as robust as it was 50 years ago. All that considered, he believes that district 27, the coastal stretch from Sullivan and Gouldsboro to Eastport, will have higher concentrations of deer than inland areas of the counties. An island such as Eastport probably will "have higher deer numbers for a variety of reasons." He cites the transient nature of deer moving on and off the island in a variety of ways. Deer can swim up to two miles.

Island communities and deer

Another issue that communities like Eastport share is the difficulty in culling through hunting, because of the limited nature of an island's geography combined with residential density. For 2005, 2006 and 2007, Eastport averaged close to an annual harvest of 11 deer by bow hunting. Hunting with firearms is not permitted on the island. In 2008 only one deer was harvested, a number that had Kantar curious until City Manager George "Bud" Finch explained that there is no longer hunting of any kind, including the previously allowed bow-hunting, permitted on "municipal, port and state property." These parcels of land stretch across the island and provide habitat that deer frequent. "From Estes Head to the city sewer plant, the state park, the Boat School and the airport make hunting of anything south and west of County Road off limits. In addition, the schools and cemetery are municipal properties where hunting is not allowed." The city manager notes that when all that is taken into consideration "there is little property left when you add to the requirement a distance from a residential dwelling and the number of private and business properties that do not allow hunting. This pretty much covers everything from Bangor Hydro through the campground to Redoubt Hill and Kendall's Head or the north and west side of County Road."

Tom Schaeffer, regional wildlife biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, says that while the biologists don't count specific deer numbers town by town, they use models that calculate deer population cycles based on reported harvests and accidents. "One of the easiest ways for towns is to look at the number of accidents reported and the number of complaints of shrubbery damage." While reported accidents won't reflect the true number of deer-related accidents "because not every deer run-in is reported," these numbers can be used to determine the extent of the deer population cycle. "A number of island communities have had deer population issues," he says, because of bans on hunting that were usually set in place because of dense residential areas.

One island, Schaeffer notes as an example, had a density of 100 deer per square mile, an amount that represented a high risk of Lyme disease occurrences. After a lengthy decision-making process, the island agreed to allow residents to take part in a controlled hunt. Schaeffer says that the residents thought they had found every deer on the island, but when damage continued to occur the island agreed to pay a specialized company to come in. "The residents had gotten the number down to about 40 deer per square mile," but at that point the professionals were needed to find the remaining deer.

McGarvey does not know exactly where or when she was infected with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. But she's pretty sure it was on the island near her home. She has had her dog vaccinated. Whether walking her dog or out for a stroll, she is now careful.