"I feel bad for the kids today," said Chapman, a massage therapist in Portland. "They can't just go out in the woods and play the same way."

Similar Prevention Strategies

Taking a few simple steps this summer, though, can greatly lower the chances of contracting either disease without hurting the fun quotient, health officials say.

The best way to reduce bug populations is by clearing the yard. Standing water in old flowerpots and tires that would otherwise serve as a mating ground for mosquitoes should be dumped out. Brush and old logs -- popular gathering spots for ticks, which like dark, moist areas -- should be discarded.

Using DEET-containing insect repellent or covering up with clothes, especially at dawn and dusk when the mosquitoes are most active, will ward off bug bites.

These are not new strategies to Bill Belskis, who uses repellent in his own back yard.

"Bugs love me so I have to do all that stuff," said Belskis, a computer technician from Westbrook. But the state has been stressing the safeguards in a public information campaign because they can pack a one-two punch.

"It's becoming increasingly clear to us that West Nile virus and Lyme disease have overlapping prevention strategies," said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the state Bureau of Health.

Both also can cause serious health problems. But the similarities stop there.

Lyme's Threat Unheeded

Since the 1980s, Lyme disease has sickened hundreds of Mainers in increasing parts of the state, making it a bigger threat than West Nile, which has not infected any humans but garners attention because it is an emerging disease, Mills says.

"With such a big focus on West Nile virus, some people are not getting the message about Lyme disease," she said.

Each year, around 200 people in Maine get Lyme disease -- a bacterial infection that, left untreated, can cause arthritis, neurological problems and encephalitis, a possibly fatal inflammation of the brain.

Early symptoms of Lyme disease include a red "bulls-eye" rash that slowly expands within three to 30 days after a tick bite. Fever, joint and muscle pains may also occur.

Checking the body daily is recommended because transmission of Lyme disease is unlikely if ticks are removed within 24 hours of a bite. Mills recommends using tweezers to pull out the tick. Such vigilance can also ward off other tick-borne diseases such as babesia and ehrlichiosis.

No Human West Nile Cases in Maine

Ticks first emerge in the spring, but are in full swing now.

Summer is also the prime time for mosquitoes, which are plentiful after this year's soggy spring.

Birds, like humans, contract the West Nile virus from mosquitoes. Since 2001, more than 100 birds in Maine have tested positive for the virus, says Dr. Kathleen Gensheimer, state epidemiologist. However, the state is the only one east of the Mississippi River that has not yet confirmed a human case.

Health officials do not know why Maine has been spared. "I think that could certainly change any time," Gensheimer said.

She notes that Canadian provinces north of Maine have reported human cases, so "we can't say it's because we're too far north."

The virus first appeared in the United States in 1999 and has stricken more than 16,500 people and killed more than 650.

Most people with the virus, though, don't get sick.

Symptoms such as aches, fever and vomiting are more apt to show up in people who are 50 and over or have weakened immune systems. About one in 150 people develops more serious symptoms, such as paralysis and disorientation.

The virus is spread among people when mosquitoes feed on infected birds and then bite a human. A number of dead birds in an area could mean that West Nile is present.

A hotline for reporting dead birds began in June. The state will collect birds for testing if they have not decomposed too badly, Gensheimer says.

Much Higher Awareness

People should not wait to hear whether a bird tested positive in their area before taking precautions.

"The public should realize that vector-borne diseases are here and will remain with us in the state of Maine," Gensheimer said.

Gensheimer says there is a much higher awareness of these diseases in other parts of country that have dealt with them longer than Maine. Chapman, who used to live in Arizona, has noticed the difference herself.

Moving back to Maine last year, she brought with her the practice of wearing long pants outdoors and checking herself for ticks, measures she did not take as a child but are second nature now.

"You don't want to get so afraid that you don't get out," Chapman said. "That's no way to live life, either."