Recorded Tuesday, May 19, 2026. An hour-long presentation by Marco Notarangelo, who leads tick- and mosquito-borne disease surveillance for the New Hampshire Health and Human Services Department’s Bureau of Infectious Disease Control.

Notarangelo reviews the history and current status of tick-borne diseases in New Hampshire. He discusses how ticks transmit diseases, where the tick hot spots are, and how to reduce your exposure to disease-bearing ticks. The session was recorded in the Samuel Wentworth Library’s community room and was sponsored by the Sandwich Community Nurse Association.

Lyme disease, carried by up to 60 percent of New Hampshire’s black-legged (or deer) ticks, is the main worry. Most cases are caused by the tiny nymphal stage of deer ticks – hard to spot because they’re the size of a poppy seed. Lyme causes flu-like symptoms but up to 10 percent of victims have more severe neurologic and cardiac issues. Some people have debilitating, long-lasting effects if they’re not given antibiotics promptly.

Less common but much-discussed lately is alpha-gal syndrome. It’s not an infection but a nasty allergy to red meat and other mammalian tissues and fluids. It’s prompted by a sugar molecule in the saliva of the Lone Star tick, whose range is expanding northward, driven by warming climate and increased deer populations.