Lyme disease in Canada:
a tragedy unfolding?
On several occasions in many areas of Canada lately, Lyme disease
has been in the media. You may have heard it being discussed on radio talk shows
or mentioned in radio advertisements. You may have seen it highlighted on investigative journalism television shows, or you may have read about it in your local newspaper.
Is the attention warranted? And what is it all about?
By Jim M. Wilson, President,
Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation
Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease, which means you can get it from the bite of a tick. We have the species of ticks that transmit Lyme disease to humans in every province of Canada. Recent research has shown we have three main species of ticks that transmit the disease, and this is significant because until this year only two species were said to be the culprits. The third species is an important find because it is found Canada-wide.
What does Lyme disease in humans look like?
It can resemble many diseases and is often referred to as the master mimic. It may initially look like influenza, with or without a rash (a flu out of season should trigger an alarm to look for Lyme disease). Some rashes, about 9%, will look like a distinctive bull’s eye, but most will be more generalized in appearance. Most people do not have or notice a rash, and many doctors have mistakenly taken some rashes as spider bites or ringworm.
If Lyme disease is not caught or identified in the early stage - which is all too frequently the case - it can progress and resemble arthritic diagnoses, neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, bowel disorder, heart disorder or psychiatric disorder. Commonly, it will have a little of each thrown in, making it appear as though the patient may be making the whole thing up.
Unlike the more common wood tick or the dog tick, the ticks that carry and transmit Lyme disease to humans are very small, but all ticks can transmit a number of nasty diseases and should be avoided. Ticks have four stages of life: egg, larva, nymph and adult. It is the nymphal stage that is most frequently involved in the transmission of Lyme disease to humans.
What does all of this this mean for you?
These ticks are so small in their nymphal stage that they are only slightly larger than the period at the end of this sentence, or about the size of a poppy seed. They are difficult to see because they crawl quickly once they get on you and can make their way to areas hard to see, such as under your hair, behind the knees, on your back, in the armpits, or in your private areas. Because they can be found anywhere in Canada, it is important to be aware now, more so than ever before.
Prevention is important, and with some very simple steps you can reduce your, your family’s, and your pet’s risk of ever contracting this disease. Ticks like tall grassy areas and areas of low brush where moisture is shaded from the sun at ground level. When feeding, the ticks will crawl up the grass or brush and grab onto any warm-bodied being that happens to go by. If you go hiking, stay in the middle of trails and do not brush up against the edges of the path where you may come in contact with grass or brush. Wear bright coloured or white clothing so the tick can be easily seen, and apply products that contain DEET, such as many popular mosquito repellents.
Activities such as gathering logs, or sitting on logs to rest when outdoors can be hazardous to your health and increase the risk of having an encounter with a tick. Occupations that keep you outdoors a lot of the time, and especially those where you are in contact with the brush and grasses of Canada, can significantly increase your risk of exposure.
If you own outdoor/indoor pets, contact your local veterinarian for products that can reduce infection rates for pets, but also be aware that these pets themselves can bring ticks into your home environment.
Remember: No tick is a safe tick!!
How can ticks not be there one year and be there the next year in any given area, or any given square meter?
The answer is migratory birds. Your friendly migratory birds, including robins and finches, can be a welcome sight in the spring, but they may also be an airline for ticks carrying Lyme disease and other nasty infections. The blood of the bird can harbour Lyme disease and spread it to new ticks. These newly deposited ticks can infect the local rodent population, which then creates a cycle of ongoing infection in an area. Canada’s climate supports populations of ticks very well.
In Canada, testing humans for Lyme disease is not the best by any means. Frequently, it requires a vigilant doctor or patient to persist beyond a negative blood test to find out that, in fact, Lyme disease is the culprit for the many strange, disabling but seemingly unconnected symptoms.
At the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, we are working hard to improve the diagnosis of Lyme disease in Canada, both in the laboratory and in the doctor’s office. CanLyme is also well on its way to aiding in opening the first Lyme disease human study research program in Canada. A major focus of research will be aggressively investigating via post mortem and live subject study many of the conditions listed above that total more than 1.5 million Canadians suffering from diseases of unknown origin. It is understood that a percentage of these are actually Lyme disease and what we need to find out is what that percentage is.
Considering recent research implicating infectious organisms to cancer, this must be explored as well as it relates to tick-borne, or more broadly, arthropod-borne disease. The cost to individual lives, livelihoods, families and our health care budgets is substantial, and presently there is no direct research being done in Canada to measure the true burden of these diseases on the human population.
The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation is a federally registered charitable organization, and we are actively seeking the support of the public, federal and provincial governments, and industry in our efforts to support this most important research. When looking at the numbers of cases annually in the northern hemisphere, which in many areas are now occurring at a rate five times that of A.I.D.S, any employer with a large contingent of outdoor employees has a vested interest in getting this research underway as soon as possible. These industries include Parks Canada, Environment Canada, their provincial counterparts, including natural resource departments and oil, natural gas, pipeline, seismic, telephone, hydro and forestry companies, as well as wineries, farming sectors and many others.
For further information on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research, go to www.CanLyme.org.
2600 John Street, Unit 207, Markham, ON L3R 3W3 T: 905.475.5222 F: 905.475.6369
