As alpha-gal syndrome rapidly spreads across the Vineyard, Island public health officials are hoping to gauge the public’s concern over the meat allergy and gather important information that could aid in future research.

In a new study, scientists say they found more infected ticks had fed on shrews, upending the common belief that white-footed mice were the main culprits.

In 2020, the hospital recorded just two confirmed cases of alpha-gal sensitivity. By 2022, the number had jumped to 77. This year, as of Sept. 30, the hospital had 365 positive cases.

A study published earlier this month in the entomology journal Insects delves into how lone star and deer ticks have co-existed since the rapid rise of lone stars, and what it could mean for the future.

In the first week of September, the hospital emergency room treated “approximately 20 cases of lesions that are consistent with tick larvae bites,” said Dr. Ellen McMahon, the hospital’s chief of medicine.

This week Sam Permar wrapped filming on his original short film, Tick, a dark satire of the Island’s tick-borne illness epidemic. His sister Tessa was by his side as producer, choreographer and nearly everything else.

A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst say they have come up with a more accurate way to test deer ticks for Powassan, a rare virus that has been found in pockets around the Island.

Three Asian longhorned ticks were found during yard surveys in Aquinnah and Chilmark earlier in June.

At a half-day long tick-borne illness symposium put on by several local health groups, experts warned of the ticks' presence across the island and gave tips on how to keep an eye out for them.

Once largely isolated to the fringes of the Island, lone star ticks are spreading throughout Martha’s Vineyard, and health officials are advising extra vigilance to avoid the unpleasant consequences of their bite.