Tick season reaches its peak in the month of August, and a group of researchers from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Environmental Protection Agency took advantage of the warm weather to work on their latest effort in the quest to understand tick-borne diseases.

She took her first antibiotic at the age of 19.

“I never really got sick,” Katina L. Makris told an audience of about 30 people on August 18 at the Chilmark Community Church.

This was all before she was bitten by a tick and later diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Ms. Makris’s inspirational talk was part of Bite Back for a Cure, a day on Martha’s Vineyard dedicated to finding a cure.

Ticks beware. Bite Back for a Cure, the national campaign to fight against the impact of tick-borne disease, is coming to the Vineyard for a fundraising event on August 18.

The day begins with a five-mile bike ride starting from the Lyme Center of Martha’s Vineyard to the Chilmark town hall. Check-in for the ride is at 9:30 a.m. and the bicycling begins at 11 a.m.

Katina I. Makris will speak at the Chilmark Community Church beginning at 1 p.m. Ms. Makris is the author of Out of the Woods.

Even if he wasn’t thinking specifically about tularemia, Hans Zinsser knew well the danger that surrounds us. He cynically observed that “however secure and well-regulated civilized life may become, bacteria, Protozoa, viruses, infected fleas, lice, ticks, mosquitoes and bedbugs will always lurk in the shadows ready to pounce when neglect, poverty, famine or war lets down the defenses.”

As summer heats up and tick season reaches its peak months on the Island, the Martha’s Vineyard Tick-Borne Initiative has launched its latest public health effort, reaching out to Vineyard schools via video.

Last week more than 1,500 DVDs, each containing a short tick safety and awareness video, were delivered to Island schools, with each elementary-age child receiving a copy to take home.

Regarding the Gazette story of March 22 headlined: “Have Host Will Travel, Ticks And Deer Thrive On Vineyard.”

The Vineyard is famous for many things, one being ticks.

The Harbor View Hotel is hosting a five-day detox retreat from April 8 to 12. The retreat is part of a program offered by Dr. Roni DeLuz, a registered nurse and naturopathic doctor who holds a PhD in Natural Health. The program features special content on Lyme and other chronic diseases. The Lyme Center of Martha’s Vineyard is offering one scholarship for the retreat.

Although frost still covers the ground some mornings, Island boards of health already have their focus turned towards summer and tick season.

At last week’s All-Island Selectmen’s meeting, Tisbury health commissioner Michael Loberg and Edgartown health agent Matthew Poole presented their annual year-end report for the Tick-Borne Illness Reduction Initiative, a five-year study funded by a grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. The study has just completed its second year.

So new tick-borne virus, no tests available. So 50 deer per square mile, 100 square miles, that’s 5,000 deer on the Vineyard. The way I hear it, no deer equals no ticks. As I have said before, 5,000 — given certain changes in regulations — 75 per cent of that sounds like a doable number, very doable, over the course of several years.

Bloodthirsty? Not as thirsty as the ticks.

The Vineyard Haven Library is holding two events that focus on Lyme disease. On Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. the library will screen the documentary Under Our Skin. This movie follows the journey of several patients and their difficulties with both the disease and the health care industry. For more information, visit underourskin.com.