Franklin County communities are all considered high-risk for encountering ticks, according to a new town-level model from TickZone.
Temple, Weld, Sandy River Plantation, Carrabassett Valley and Carthage tied for the highest peak-season score at 82. Dallas Plantation, Industry, Avon, Coplin Plantation, Phillips, New Vineyard and Kingfield followed at 81.
Farmington had the county’s lowest score at 76, but still fell within the model’s high-risk category.
TickZone founder Nathan Burnett said the scores are designed to estimate the likelihood of encountering ticks, not the chance of contracting Lyme disease. Because Lyme cases are reported by county, each Franklin County community receives the same disease-incidence figure, while factors such as forest cover, habitat edges, seasonal tick activity and weather are used to distinguish between towns.
Burnett said Temple and Weld are about 98% forested, with areas where woods meet fields, yards and trails creating more opportunities for people to encounter ticks.
Franklin County’s annual Lyme disease rate is about 178 cases per 100,000 residents, according to data cited by TickZone. Maine had reported 1,588 Lyme disease cases as of July 7, compared with 4,257 cases for all of last year.
Blacklegged, or deer, ticks account for most of the modeled risk in the county. Nymph activity typically peaks in June and July, while adult ticks become more active again in the fall.
TickZone also provides daily ratings that can rise or fall based on recent temperature, humidity and rainfall.
Burnett said the close scores show that Franklin County is broadly at high risk rather than any one community being dramatically more dangerous than the others. The ratings are intended as a reminder to take precautions, not as a prediction of whether someone will encounter a tick or become infected.
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