Latest news with #tickborneillness
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Tick-borne disease is spreading into new parts of Canada. Here's where you're at risk
Here's everything you need to know about ticks, including ways to protect both you and your pets. Here's everything you need to know about ticks, including ways to protect both you and your pets. Should you be worried about ticks this spring? As the weather gets warmer, public health experts are warning about the risk of tick-borne illnesses like lyme disease -- a problem that's spreading to new parts of the country. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has identified thousands of postal codes across more than 1,100 municipalities it considers 'risk areas' for exposure to lyme. As of the current list, high-risk areas are concentrated in communities along the U.S. border, as well as in major population centres. In Western Canada, risk areas are concentrated on Vancouver Island, the coastal areas of B.C.'s Lower Mainland and river valleys across that province's south, as well as nearly all of Manitoba from the north shore of Lake Winnipeg to the U.S. border. Further east, much of southern Ontario's Great Lakes coasts, including the entirety of the Greater Toronto Area, are within areas considered high risk by the agency. A corridor of risk areas also exists along the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic coast, including Kingston, Ont., Ottawa and Montreal. And in Atlantic Canada, nearly all of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton Island, are known to be habitats for blacklegged ticks. Blacklegged tick This undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a blacklegged tick, which is also known as a deer tick. (CDC via AP, File) Virginie Millien is an associate professor of biology at McGill University who studies the effects of climate change on wildlife such as ticks and their hosts. 'Risk areas are growing,' Millien told by phone. 'It's not going to stop anytime soon because it's really driven by climate warming.' Millien has been tracking the emergence of Lyme disease in Quebec for over a decade 'The risk is present for people, not just whenever they go far in the woods in remote areas,' Millien cautioned. 'It's also present in some major cities now because there's large urban parks in these cities.' iFrames are not supported on this page. Informed by data from provincial and territorial authorities, risk areas are identified by the emergence of new tick populations, as well as human populations 'most at risk of lyme disease.' But PHAC is quick to note that even if you are not located in a high-risk postal code, it's important to remain vigilant. '[Ticks] can also spread by travelling on birds and deer. You can sometimes find blacklegged ticks in areas outside of where they're known to live,' the agency's lyme-disease monitoring page reads. 'Always take precautions against tick bites when you're in wooded or grassy areas.' Ticking upward PHAC notes that as climate change has increased temperatures across the country, the viable range for lyme-infected ticks has grown, increasing risks of exposure. 'Incidence continues to remain high due to factors such as greater human exposure to risk areas and to risk of infection,' reads a 2022 report on lyme-disease monitoring. Millien says ticks can be spread by other animals like mice, which are also expanding their range due to climate change. 'The tick needs to be able to survive the winter to become established in a region,' Millien explained. 'Winter conditions are going to determine whether the tick is going survive or not, and of course it's getting warmer, so they can survive each year in more northern localities.' 'It's going to get bigger and bigger' Lyme disease is a life-altering infection caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which can spread to humans via tick bites. There are more than 40 varieties of ticks in Canada, and many are known to carry lyme. The species that are of the biggest concern are the blacklegged tick in Eastern Canada and the western blacklegged tick in B.C. While early signs of the disease can be fairly mild, including fever, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes and a bullseye-shaped rash near the location of the bite, later stages can cause severe headaches, arthritis, spreading pain throughout the muscles, bones and joints, difficulties with thinking and memory and facial paralysis, among other symptoms. First tracked nationally in 2009, reported cases of lyme disease have risen greatly in the past quarter-century, to more than 5,000 in last year's preliminary data from just a few hundred per year in the early 2010s. 'In Canada, there were only a handful of cases only a decade ago,' Millien said. 'It's not a linear relationship, it's exponential when a disease emerges. So it's going to get bigger and bigger, and in an exponential way. That's the expectation.' PHAC notes that cases are often underreported because they go undetected, possibly even to those infected with the disease. Case counts can vary annually due to underlying weather, trends in outdoor activity among humans and prevention efforts by public health authorities, they say. Anyone who develops symptoms after a tick bite, or does after visiting a high-risk area for tick-borne lyme, is advised to contact their heath-care provider. Treatment with antibiotics is most effective soon after exposure, posing the best chance of recovery, though symptoms may persist after treatment is complete, PHAC says. How to remove a tick George Chaconas is a professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine who studies the bacteria that causes lyme disease. 'If you're in an area known to have ticks, protect yourself,' he told by phone. 'Wear light-coloured clothing, so if you pick up a tick, you can see it. Tuck your pants into your socks. You may look a little bit funny, but if you do that, if a tick gets on your foot and crawls upwards, which is what they do, it's not going to get under your pants and crawl up to your groin or somewhere else.' Tick Twister Removing a tick with ether and a tick removal device. (Photo By BSIP / Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Insect repellants can also help. If bitten, Chaconas says it's important to quickly but carefully remove a tick by the head without squeezing its body. You can then upload a picture of a tick to to have it identified. 'If it's been less than 24 hours, then chances of picking up Lyme disease are very low because Lyme is usually not transmitted until 24 to 48 hours after the tick bite,' he added. 'If it's been on for longer than that, you can also usually tell by what the tick looks like. If it's big and fat and full of blood, then it's been there for a while.' Related:
CBS News
12-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Family of Massachusetts man who died from tick-borne illness warns others to stay vigilant
Family of man who died from tick-borne illness wants people to remember to check themselves Family of man who died from tick-borne illness wants people to remember to check themselves Family of man who died from tick-borne illness wants people to remember to check themselves The family of a man who died from a tick-borne illness is warning others to be vigilant and check themselves during this year's tick season. Erin Boyce remembers the day her brother Kevin Boyce got sick after being bitten by a tick. Ticks can also be deadly, which is why she is speaking out on behalf of her brother. "Just because it was horrible and ticks are so small," she said. Powassan virus symptoms She says he was bitten by a tick in April of last year. Days later, he collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital in the ICU. The doctor told them he was diagnosed with the Powassan virus. The CDC says that virus symptoms can include fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, and seizures. Approximately 10% of people with this severe form of the disease will die, and many survivors may have long-term health problems, Yale Medicine says. Erin says he died just a few weeks later. "His brain had blown up so much, from the encephalitis, and he had really bad brain damage," she said. Erin says her brother left behind a wife, two sons, and a granddaughter. "I miss talking to him, and I wish I could ski with him one more time," she said. She never wants any other family to experience what they are going through. "We just want the public to know what to look for and be wary of ticks, especially if you have one on your body." How to prepare for tick season Massachusetts Audubon says warmer climates have led to an increase in the black legged deer tick population. "There are several pathogens now that can be transmitted by ticks, and because the ticks do not get knocked back in the winter, anywhere near as much as they used to, they are of greater significance in terms of when they occur," Tia Pinney said. Health officials say that as tick season gets into full swing, people need to be aware when playing outside or going for walks in the woods. And there are preventative measures people can take to avoid being bitten by a tick. "If you put your pants inside your socks, then they are going to crawl up the outside of your pants. And you will see them," Pinney said.
