The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) recently released an online report that states Lyme disease is on the increase in Canada. Global warming is creating conditions that favor the tick life-cycle and the carrying of Lyme disease. With continuing warming, the problem will only worsen its spread.
Where are Ticks?
Ticks were once believed to be in a contained area along Lake Erie's shoreline in Ontario. The reports state that Lyme disease has spread to southern Ontario, southeastern Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
In the United States the highest incidents of Lyme disease are found in: Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut.
A person can come into contact with a tick from simply brushing against vegetation. The risk of contact increases between early spring and late autumn. Winter months do not provide people protection from ticks if the temperature is over 4°C and there is no snow.
Cause of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is caused by ticks that drink infected blood from an animal, bird or rodents. A bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi is usually carried by birds, mice, squirrels and other small animals. When the tick feeds on one of these infected animals, it becomes infected and afterwards, once it feeds on a human, the bacterium is spread. Pets can get Lyme disease also, but there is no scientific proof that pets can pass it on to humans. However, they can bring infected ticks into the home.
Not all ticks carry Lyme disease and the chance of getting this disease is greatly reduced if the tick is removed within a day of it attaching itself to the 'host'.
Removing a Tick
If a tick is unattached to the host, it can be removed with tweezers. If the tick has attached itself to the host, the American Lyme Disease Foundation recommends:
- Use a pair of pointed precision tweezers and grasp the tick by the head or mouth right where it has entered the skin. Under no circumstances is the tick to be grasped by the body or legs.
- Using a steady hand, pull firmly and steadily directly outward. Do not apply anything to assist in getting the tick out and do not twist it out.
- Place the tick in a jar of alcohol to kill it.
- Clean the bite wound with disinfectant.
Symptoms
The symptoms of Lyme disease are often described as being vague and everyone can be affected differently. The first sign of infection is usually a circular rash. This occurs in about 75% of infected persons and begins at the site of the tick bite anywhere from three days to one month after the bite. This circular rash is called erythema migrans. Other symptoms may include:
- Fever
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Muscle aches
- Flu-like symptoms
- Joint aches
Although initial symptoms are usually mild and easily cured with oral antibiotics, if it goes undetected, Lyme disease can cause debilitating complications such as meningitis, heart problems and inflammation of the spinal cord and brain.
For more information visit the Public Health Agency of Canada.
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