Public Health Impacts of Climate Change in Maine

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPHDirector, Maine Center for Disease Control

↑ Precipitation

CLIMATE CHANGE

↑ Air temperatures• Warmer winters• Hotter summers• More heat waves

↑ Heat-related morbidity and mortality

↑ Water temperatures

↑ Vector-borne diseases(Lyme, EEE, West Nile)

↑ Frequency of severe storms, flooding

↑ Pollen, Ozone

↑ Algal blooms (Red tide, cyanobacteria)

↑ Frequency of waterborne disease outbreaks (crypto, E. coli, giardiasis)

↑ Asthma

Vector Borne Disease

Lyme Disease Eastern Equine Encephalitis West Nile Virus

Lyme Disease in Maine

Lyme Disease Incidence in Maine has been Increasing

Lyme Disease Incidence, Maine and US, 2003-2009

0

20

40

60

80

100

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Rat

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er 1

00,0

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Maine US New England

Lyme Disease in Maine

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Lyme Disease is becoming more widespread in Maine

Eastern Equine Encephalitis

• First identified in ME in 2005

• One horse death and one human death (a visitor to Maine) in 2008

• 15 horses, 1 llama, 3 flocks of pheasants, and 2 mosquito pools diagnosed with EEE in 2009

Horses in a field, Biddeford, ME Image: dinidesign, Flickr

Mosquito. Image: Maine-CDC

Eastern Equine EncephalitisPositive Animals

2009

2008

20072006

2005

2004

West Nile Virus

• No human cases identified in Maine

• Bird monitoring – ended in 2007

• Mosquito monitoringMosquito. Image: Maine-CDC

West Nile VirusPositive Birds

2005

2004

2003

2006

20012002

Heat Related Morbidity

Air Pollution

Air PollutionDaily percent change in ED asthma-related visits for Greater Portland HSA area

for 10 ppb change In ozone levels

9%

14% 16%

-10%

6%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

2000(4)

2001(14)

2002(17)

2003(5)

2000-2003

% change in ED Visits, per 10 ppb

Ozone

Severe storms & flooding

Harmful Algal Blooms

Public Health Infrastructure

Eight Public Health Districts 28 Healthy Maine Partnerships

Adapting to Climate Change

It's not enough to be busy. The question is: What are we busy about?- Henry David Thoreau