A drop in deer hunting this season combined with the rise of tick-borne illnesses has Vineyard hunters wondering if increased access to butchering could help manage the Island’s overgrown herd.
Lea Hamner, a Chilmark-based epidemiologist who joined the Island’s tick prevention program in 2023, will soon be stopping her work because the grant she was paid through has been almost completely expended.
Deer hunting season on Martha’s Vineyard will be extended an extra month this year as state officials hope to cull the expanding deer herd that is fueling the rise of tick-borne illnesses on the Island.
Aquinnah tribal council chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listened to concerns on tick-borne illnesses, avian flu and tularemia.
A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School announced last week that they have teamed up with a pharmaceutical company to shepherd a Lyme antibody to phase two and three trials, the next step before getting approval with the federal government.
Tiffany Sisco said her daughter Lily, who went to the hospital in July just about a month after she was born, has been hitting the targets set for her by doctors after being diagnosed with the Powassan virus.