Letter: Maine deserves greater detail on tick-borne disease

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 17, 2026

I read the July 31 report “Model finds high tick risk across Franklin County” with interest and some concern. I’m a Ph.D. researcher in vector ecology. I am glad people are paying attention to tick-borne disease risk; it matters greatly for our state and too often flies under the radar. My worry isn’t with any particular website, but with the uneven or missing scientific foundations that they rest on. When a tool hands the public a “risk score,” that number is only as trustworthy as the method behind it. If the calculation isn’t published, then we are unable to interpret (or even know how accurate) such a number or assertion is. ~ Merline Feero, Waterville