The Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester Boards of Health will sponsor a talk on Deer Ticks:  “One Bite Can Change Your Life” with Larry Dapsis, entomologist. Dapsis joined the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension in 2011 as deer tick project coordinator and entomologist and is a member of the Barnstable County Task Force on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

The event will be held Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Sippican School. Parking is available behind the school.

Lyme disease is the most prevalent infectious disease in Massachusetts and is now considered to be a public health crisis. Marion and Rochester have seen a significant increase in the number of cases in the last two years. Prevention is the key to stopping tick-borne illnesses.

This program will review the basic life cycle and ecology of deer ticks, incidence rates and distribution of tick-borne illnesses in addition to a database under development on infection rates of ticks.