Latest news with #MountAllisonUniversity
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
N.B. professor aims to broaden tick research after battling Lyme disease
When Vett Lloyd was bitten by a tick in 2011, it marked the beginning of a painful, years-long battle with Lyme disease. It also abruptly altered the trajectory of her career. At the time, Dr. Lloyd's research at New Brunswick's Mount Allison University was focused on cancer biology but she wondered why people weren't paying more attention to ticks. So, she converted her cancer lab into a tick lab and reoriented her life's work around the tiny bloodsucker that nearly ruined her. It was a scientific pursuit with a surprisingly therapeutic perk. 'When testing ticks, the first step you do is grind them into oblivion,' she says. 'And I must admit, it took me about 10 years to get over the joy of doing that.' Nova Scotians watch their backs – and each other's – during another tick-infested summer Dr. Lloyd would still love to see ticks 'disappeared from the face of the Earth.' But 13 years studying the parasitic arachnids have forced a begrudging admiration as well, both for their fascinating biology and remarkable ability to spread. Ticks, which are cousins of spiders and scorpions, have been crawling the planet for about 99 million years, according to fossil evidence showing that they once fed on dinosaurs. But in countries such as Canada and the United States, their numbers have risen dramatically in recent decades and ticks are increasingly recognized as a growing threat to public health. In Canada, some 40-odd tick species have been documented, Dr. Lloyd says – but only a handful are adept at biting people or spreading human disease. One species that's expert at both is the Ixodes scapularis, also known as the blacklegged tick or deer tick. It was once ignored by the public-health establishment. That all changed after 1976, when authorities in Lyme, Conn., reported a cluster of children with unexplained arthritis – an illness later attributed to the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is primarily spread through tick bites. Today, blacklegged ticks are a known vector for seven human pathogens: five bacteria (including the Lyme bacterium), one parasite (that causes a malaria-like illness) and a rare virus called Powassan, named for the Ontario town where it was discovered after the death of a five-year-old. Just three decades ago, there was only one spot in Canada where blacklegged ticks were known to be endemic: Long Point, Ont., along the shores of Lake Erie. But just across the U.S.-Canadian border, ticks were on the rise – as were the diseases they spread. Every year, millions of ticks are biting birds that fly into Canada. A 2008 study estimated that northward-migrating birds carry anywhere from 50 million to 175 million blacklegged ticks into Canada every year – all of which drop off their feathered hosts once they finish feeding. 'Canada's being bombed by ticks in the spring,' says Nick Ogden, first author of the 2008 migratory bird study and director of the modelling hub division with the Public Health Agency of Canada. Ask a Doctor: What should I know about ticks and Lyme disease? 'And when the temperatures rise to a suitable level for the ticks, they can start off a population.' In 2019, researchers conducted Canada's first real-time surveillance study of tick populations and found Ixodes ticks in every province except Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. Of the 567 ticks collected, 25 per cent were infected with the Lyme bacterium. (In British Columbia, Lyme disease is less of a concern because another tick species – the Ixodes pacificus, a far less competent vector – is prevalent.) Climate change has been a major driver of their spread. Ticks were already capable of surviving Canadian winters under certain conditions, Dr. Ogden says – for example, if they find a cozy leaf layer, where the microclimate might keep temperatures closer to zero. 'And they've got a bit of antifreeze in their bodies, which protects them,' he adds. But the warming planet is resulting in more cumulative days with temperatures above zero – a key threshold for ticks to survive and thrive, according to Dr. Ogden's research. Given that female ticks can lay between 2,000 to 3,000 eggs in a single clutch, it doesn't take long for their numbers to explode. 'Nationally, it's really exponential what we're seeing,' says Manisha Kulkarni, the scientific director of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network and a professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. 'The abundance of ticks is really increasing ... which is leading to that amplification of tick-borne pathogens and that potential for spillover.' The key to fighting ticks? Getting to know them better Every person who contracts Lyme will have unwittingly supplied one of the three blood meals that a blacklegged tick requires over its lifetime, which can span two to four years. Newly hatched from its egg, the six-legged tick larvae will die without its first blood meal. 'So, the mom usually lays her eggs close to a mouse burrow,' says clinical microbiologist Muhammad Morshed, program head for zoonotic disease and emerging pathogens at the BC Centre for Disease Control. 'They can easily hop onto mice or some other warm-blooded animal.' Rodents are natural reservoirs for the Lyme bacterium, however. So, this first feed often infects the tick, which continues harbouring the pathogen even after moulting into an eight-legged nymph. Blacklegged ticks don't seek out people. But their primary strategy for finding a blood meal is to climb a leaf or blade of grass, outstretch its front legs, and simply wait. If the first warm-blooded creature to come along is human, so be it. For the first 24 hours after biting, the tick is mostly just salivating and preparing for what scientists refer to, somewhat horrifyingly, as the 'big sip.' 'It's not really getting a lot of blood at first,' says Rebecca Eisen, a research biologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's division of vector-borne diseases. 'But it keeps on feeding, and then it just gets the big sip and engorges.' Ticks need strategies for staying attached. It helps to be a nymph, which is the size of a poppy seed and therefore tough to detect. Their mouthparts also have barbs and their salivary glands secrete an adhesive substance known as 'tick cement.' And generally, an infected tick needs to be embedded for more than 24 hours before disease transmission occurs, Dr. Eisen says. 'The blood getting into the midgut tells [the bacteria] 'Hey, we found a host,'' she explains. 'Then they'll start the migration into the salivary glands.' In its final life stage, the adult tick is trying to mate. A female needs a third and last blood meal to lay her eggs, so tick copulation mostly occurs on larger mammals – primarily white-tailed deer, an animal that's enjoyed a population resurgence in recent decades. As ever more millions of ticks embark upon this life cycle in Canada, Dr. Lloyd hopes her research will help people live more safely among their exploding numbers. Her lab is looking for better diagnostics, as well as answers to basic science questions – why, for example, do ticks seemingly have a greater hunger drive when they're infected? Pulverizing ticks may have provided early satisfaction for Dr. Lloyd, but her research has always been driven by a deep and personal understanding of the misery these bloodsuckers can cause. She still thinks of the man who once left her a voice mail, desperately seeking help for his chronic Lyme symptoms. When she phoned back, she learned that he had died by suicide. 'It's not just a nine-to-five job for me; I want to try and help,' Dr. Lloyd says. 'I've seen the devastation this causes.'
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Saint John council set for final vote on Spruce Lake Industrial Park future
After passing the first and second readings of a proposed industrial park expansion on the city's western outskirts, Saint John City Council will have its third and final vote on the plan Monday night. In mid-June, councillors unanimously passed the first two readings that would see 1,500 acres of land in the community of Lorneville rezoned for heavy industry. The proposed expansion has been a highly debated topic since Lorneville residents were first given a letter about the plans in July 2024. The idea has been met with heavy resistance from much of the community. 'It's been, first and foremost, on our minds for over a year,' says Lorneville resident Chris Watson. 'The industrial park was basically thrust upon us out of the blue.' City staff held several meetings with the community, but Lorneville residents who attended those meetings have previously said they did not feel heard and the meetings felt more like a formality. Major concerns include the idea of heavy industry located in close proximity to people's properties, and the destruction of provincially significant wetlands. Watson also recently discovered a red spruce tree in an area of the forest under threat that is believed to be more than 400 years old, making it one of the oldest trees in all of New Brunswick. Acadian Forest Dendrochronology Lab lead at Mount Allison University Ben Phillips said the forest is the third-oldest age forest in the province based on the 20 oldest trees in the area. 'We're resoundingly against this,' Watson says. 'We will continue to fight and stand up for our community, and we're not we're not backing down.' The community still has many questions they say council has not yet answered regarding the proposed park expansion. The 71 total questions include what the business plan is, what will happen to the area's clean drinking water, and what is the plan for compensating any wetlands destroyed by the project. In late June, the Caribou Club – a land-based treaty education and recreation facility located about a half hour outside Fredericton – walked through the old growth forest. An invitation for the walk was extended to the mayor and members of city council but a letter directed to members of council states no one attended. The letter goes on to say the land is already developed with an old growth forest, and urged council to rethink the expansion idea on the property. 'You have considered the economic value but not the cultural or spiritual value of this forest,' the letter reads. 'Decisions about land use cannot be made in isolation; they must be based in a shared understand of the historical and contemporary significance of the land to all of us.' Watson says the land up for expansion is Crown land, and indigenous partners should be consulted as much as anyone. When asked about her decision to not attend the walk led by the indigenous group, Mayor Donna Reardon told CTV News Atlantic she had toured the forest ahead of the public hearings beginning in May. When asked for comment ahead of the final vote, the mayor said the 'appropriate approach would be to all the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) to be completed and formulate any required plans once there is a definitive report available.' Lorneville residents are hopeful the EIA will back their argument and save the old growth forest. Watson says residents have asked to speak with both the province's Environment Department and Natural Resources Minister John Herron on the file but have not heard back. There is no clear timeline for when the EIA will be completed. Lorneville A wetland in Lorneville, N.B., is pictured. (Source: Avery MacRae/CTV News Atlantic) For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tick population booming in N.B. after successive mild winters, expert says
With the prospect of a warm summer ahead, Mount Allison University biologist Vett Lloyd warns New Brunswickers to protect themselves from ticks, who have been on the rise over the past couple of years. Lloyd has been studying ticks for more than 10 years and said the tick population has become unprecedentedly high this season. "We had two mild winters in a row and that means that instead of dying off during the winter, the ticks were able to sleep it out under the snow and under the soil," said Lloyd. "Anytime an adult female gets a good blood meal, she can produce 2,000 to 3,000 little baby ticks, so there are a lot of ticks now." Ticks are parasites that suck blood to create more ticks. They often feed on the blood of wild animals that carry diseases, such as Lyme disease, and bacteria that can be transmitted to humans and pets if they get bit. These diseases are called zoonotic illnesses, some of which can be fatal if left untreated. Lloyd said researchers have seen an increase in the number of ticks in the southern half of the province, along the coast. They're even starting to appear increasingly far north, carried by migratory birds and wild animals like coyotes, foxes and deer. These ticks are also carrying new diseases, such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis, which can be fatal to humans more rapidly than Lyme disease, Lloyd said. She said government doesn't currently keep track of the tick population, so researchers use community reports and targeted tick sweeps to determine how the parasite is spreading. To contribute to community reports, individuals can slowly drag a fleece blanket or an old towel over vegetation and grass in their backyard or a local park for a few minutes. If a small, black, multi-legged speck is observed, it's probably a tick. These reports can be submitted to a website created by researchers at Bishop's University and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The site also includes other resources, including a map of the country that indicates high-incidence tick areas in red. Besides using etick, Lloyd recommends using bug spray — preferably ones that say they also work on ticks. Lloyd said these sprays have probably been tested on ticks, making them more efficient to repel them than regular bug spray. She also recommends people cover their legs with long pants when outdoors. However, if this is not feasible due to summer heat, she stressed the importance of frequent tick checks during walks and after coming back from being outside. "Either in the middle of the hike, look at your own legs, look at your clothing, catch the ticks that are walking on you and get them off while they are still walking. They are not a risk," she said. "Once they stick their head into you and start sucking your blood, they are a risk, so get them off early." To make sure ticks are not latched on, Lloyd also advised people to take a shower after their walks or just take their clothes off and do a thorough tick check with the help of a mirror or someone else. In the young stages, ticks can be about the size of poppy seed, while adults can be around the size of a sesame seed, so Lloyd encourages people to look for "freckle-sized" objects. To protect pets from ticks, Lloyd said most anti-flea products will also have anti-tick medication. She recommends pet owners talk to their veterinarian and get medication prescribed to prevent the spread of diseases in their households. If you were bitten by a tick and didn't realize it for a couple of hours, Lloyd said to not panic. She said the first step to treat a tick bite is to remove it right away. "The nice thing about ticks is that they don't go fast, so it's not an emergency in the sense of gushing blood or someone can't breath," she said. Lloyd said there are various tick removal tools if people are squeamish about touching ticks, but they can easily remove them with tweezers or their hands if they have nothing available in their homes. She said the best thing to do to make sure the tick didn't give you a disease is to determine what type of tick it is. She recommended people submit the picture of the tick in etick, where researchers will identify it. People can also get their tick tested for diseases if they mail it to Geneticks, a private company in Canada that specializes in tick testing. There is a fee to get ticks tested by Geneticks, and according to Lloyd, besides Geneticks, there's only a few parts in the country where individuals can go to get ticks tested through the health-care system. Lloyd said many pharmacies can prescribe a single dose of antibiotics to people bitten by ticks, without cost, and even without a family doctor. In 2023, pharmacists became publicly funded to assess and prescribe for seven illnesses and conditions, including Lyme disease prevention after a high-risk tick bite. Lloyd said people only need to bring the tick in a bag, or take a picture of it, and show it to the pharmacist, who would then administer the antibiotic doxycycline depending on the severity of the case. "It works if you catch the tick when it just started to feed, so that's why it's really important to do a tick check the same day you've been exposed," said Lloyd. Lloyd said that if left unchecked, a tick can feed on an individual's blood for about a week, increasing their chances to infect its host with the diseases it's carrying. Based on this year's survey results regarding early tick bite treatment outcomes, Lloyd said pharmacy treatment has proven quite accessible. Anne Marie Picone, the executive director of the New Brunswick Pharmacist Association, agrees with Lloyd. She said the provision of the single-dose treatment has helped reduce the backlog of patients going to the urgent care clinics due to tick bites. "Anecdotal evidence from colleagues, from pharmacists that are members, are telling us that especially in certain areas, we are seeing increases in people coming in and asking for the service," she said. Picone explained that with the treatment being government funded, customers can come into most pharmacies in New Brunswick and get two paid-for tick assessments per year. She said pharmacists will mostly treat those who have been bitten within 72 hours because, depending on their symptoms and complexity of the case, they might need to be referred to a doctor. Additionally, Picone recommended people to reach out to their pharmacies first to make sure they have time to assess them. According to Lloyd's survey, 10 to 30 per cent of those who took the single-dose treatment can still get Lyme disease, however she believes having access to the treatment is still pivotal for the prevention of tick-caused diseases. "Three times fewer people developed Lyme disease if they got the early treatment than if they didn't," she said. Lloyd doesn't want to deter people from enjoying outdoor activities, but she hopes they will be more cautious about ticks and the diseases they carry, especially given the emergence of newer zoonotic tick-borne illnesses. "I always encourage people to go out, but then just be careful," she said. "Take just the same way you put sunscreen to not get a sunburn, put bug spray and do a tick check afterwards just to be safe."
National Observer
24-06-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Saint John is warned against paving old-growth forest and putting up industrial park
A spruce tree in Saint John, N.B., likely dating back to around the time of famed French explorer Samuel de Champlain, is part of a forested area at risk of being paved over to make room for a new kind of habitat: an industrial park expansion west of the port city. Saint John city council recently approved the plans for the Spruce Lake Industrial Park, described on the business hub's website as a "diverse ecosystem" of companies. Scientists, meanwhile, say the red spruce — likely about 400 years old — is among the oldest trees in the province, and the old-growth forest in which it stands is a piece of history the city should protect from the axe. "When Samuel de Champlain sailed up the Bay of Fundy and into what is now the Saint John Harbour back in the early 1600s — that was around the same time this tree started growing," said Chris Watson, a research scientist at University of New Brunswick's physics department. It was Watson, a resident of Lorneville, the small coastal community of 800 people where the industrial park is to be expanded, who collected a wood sample from the tree to determine its age. Last week the City of Saint John voted 10-0 to expand the industrial park. Mayor Donna Reardon told the meeting that while council had heard residents' concerns, it needed to cater to the "fastest-growing port in North America." "Growth isn't easy," she said. "It's always difficult — it's because we're not used to it in Saint John. So we've got to move forward." An environmental impact assessment by a consulting company told the city the expansion site was of "relatively low value, economically and ecologically." Dillon Consulting did not return a request for comment. Ben Phillips, a scientist at Mount Allison University's Acadian forest dendrochronology lab, disagrees with Dillon's assessment that the area is of low ecological value. In a letter to Saint John city council, he said the forest "contains old-growth trees that rival the oldest in New Brunswick." "At a minimum of 388 years old, the oldest red spruce from the proposed Spruce Lake industrial area is now confirmed among a small group of the oldest spruce trees in New Brunswick," he wrote. "This tree likely sprouted up as a sapling in 1625 and took 10 to 20 years to grow to the height where the increment core sample was extracted. That makes this tree approximately 400 years of actual age. Possibly only three to four previously sampled trees from New Brunswick may exceed this age. ... Many of these trees were growing on this site when settlers arrived and began forestry operations in the late 1700s." A nearly 15-metre-wide area has been cleared in the wooded site for a new road — construction that Phillips said could have resulted in the cutting down of several very old trees. Other trees measured in the same area, he noted, "were also of exceptional age." "It is surprising that this forest has survived the axe and then the chainsaw." No projects have so far been announced for the new site. The final authority of environmental impact assessments rests with the province, Reardon said in an email. Neither the Environment Department nor the regional development authority returned requests for comment. At the forest in Lorneville, Watson rested his hand on the nearly 400-year-old red spruce and looked up. The tree's crown is twisted, knotted and gnarly, its branches draped with light-green lichen. "That's called the old man's beard," he said with a laugh. "It's magical. It's spectacular. It's so unique," Watson said, looking around at the forest floor covered with moss, lichens, various grasses and nearly metre-long ferns. "And just the knowledge that some of these areas have been untouched for hundreds of years — it's amazing to be able to walk in these woods." The industrial park expansion should not go ahead, he said, adding that he's not against economic growth — he thinks there are other areas that can be developed without destroying a unique ecosystem. "Leave it alone .... It's very rare to see, especially on Crown land, forests that are even just 100 years old. So, yeah. It should be absolutely left alone."
Winnipeg Free Press
24-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Saint John warned against paving old-growth forest and putting up industrial park
LORNEVILLE – A spruce tree in Saint John, N.B., likely dating back to around the time of famed French explorer Samuel de Champlain, is part of a forested area at risk of being paved over to make room for a new kind of habitat: an industrial park expansion west of the port city. Saint John city council recently approved the plans for the Spruce Lake Industrial Park, described on the business hub's website as a 'diverse ecosystem' of companies. Scientists, meanwhile, say the red spruce — likely about 400 years old — is among the oldest trees in the province, and the old-growth forest in which it stands is a piece of history the city should protect from the axe. 'When Samuel de Champlain sailed up the Bay of Fundy and into what is now the Saint John Harbour back in the early 1600s — that was around the same time this tree started growing,' said Chris Watson, a research scientist at University of New Brunswick's physics department. It was Watson, a resident of Lorneville, the small coastal community of 800 people where the industrial park is to be expanded, who collected a wood sample from the tree to determine its age. Last week the City of Saint John voted 10-0 to expand the industrial park. Mayor Donna Reardon told the meeting that while council had heard residents' concerns, it needed to cater to the 'fastest-growing port in North America.' 'Growth isn't easy,' she said. 'It's always difficult — it's because we're not used to it in Saint John. So we've got to move forward.' An environmental impact assessment by a consulting company told the city the expansion site was of 'relatively low value, economically and ecologically.' Dillon Consulting did not return a request for comment. Ben Phillips, a scientist at Mount Allison University's Acadian forest dendrochronology lab, disagrees with Dillon's assessment that the area is of low ecological value. In a letter to Saint John city council, he said the forest 'contains old-growth trees that rival the oldest in New Brunswick.' 'At a minimum of 388 years old, the oldest red spruce from the proposed Spruce Lake industrial area is now confirmed among a small group of the oldest spruce trees in New Brunswick,' he wrote. 'This tree likely sprouted up as a sapling in 1625 and took 10 to 20 years to grow to the height where the increment core sample was extracted. That makes this tree approximately 400 years of actual age. Possibly only three to four previously sampled trees from New Brunswick may exceed this age. … Many of these trees were growing on this site when settlers arrived and began forestry operations in the late 1700s.' A nearly 15-metre-wide area has been cleared in the wooded site for a new road — construction that Phillips said could have resulted in the cutting down of several very old trees. Other trees measured in the same area, he noted, 'were also of exceptional age.' 'It is surprising that this forest has survived the axe and then the chainsaw.' No projects have so far been announced for the new site. The final authority of environmental impact assessments rests with the province, Reardon said in an email. Neither the Environment Department nor the regional development authority returned requests for comment. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. At the forest in Lorneville, Watson rested his hand on the nearly 400-year-old red spruce and looked up. The tree's crown is twisted, knotted and gnarly, its branches draped with light-green lichen. 'That's called the old man's beard,' he said with a laugh. 'It's magical. It's spectacular. It's so unique,' Watson said, looking around at the forest floor covered with moss, lichens, various grasses and nearly metre-long ferns. 'And just the knowledge that some of these areas have been untouched for hundreds of years — it's amazing to be able to walk in these woods.' The industrial park expansion should not go ahead, he said, adding that he's not against economic growth — he thinks there are other areas that can be developed without destroying a unique ecosystem. 'Leave it alone …. It's very rare to see, especially on Crown land, forests that are even just 100 years old. So, yeah. It should be absolutely left alone.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2025.
