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The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections.
The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website.
Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect.
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This is 'front page" coverage.
It’s time to get ticked off
Vigilance, quick discovery key to dealing with Lyme disease threat
By Marilyn Smulders
The Daily News
HEALTH – Ticks capable of carrying and transmitting Lyme disease have been found in a Bedford park.
Until now, the Natural Resources Department has discovered black-legged ticks mainly in Lunenburg County.
Forty-four black-legged ticks were collected in Admiral’s Cove Park — a rough park popular with dog walkers and rock climbers — over a four-hour period a week ago.
All 44 ticks tested negative for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. They were tested by the Public Health Agency of Canada’s microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg. Because the sample size is small, more collection, including ticks from small mammals such as squirrels, mice and voles, will be done.
There have been three official cases of people contracting Lyme disease in the province since 2002. All were in Lunenburg County.
“We’re just being proactive here,” said Robbin Lindsay, a research scientist from the Winnipeg lab, reached in Lunenburg. “We’re saying there’s a risk here (in HRM). We know these ticks can be picked up virtually anywhere. So be cautious. Check yourselves for ticks.
“And if you do find ticks, bring them in to the Department of Natural Resources or the Museum of Natural History. Help us to understand these ticks better.”
Bedford resident Jenny Hollett walks her two dogs in the woods off Shore Drive regularly. She said she was plucking ticks off her dogs and brought four of the tiny insects into Natural Resources.
“Lyme disease is prevalent in the States and we think we’re immune to it but we’re not,” she said.
Black-legged ticks look different from the more common American dog tick, which is slightly bigger and marked with white stripes. Black-legged ticks are tiny, the size of a bead. But they become much larger, about the size of a Tic Tac mint, when engorged with blood. The females are orangey-red coloured on the abdomen, while males are uniformly brown.
Larry Burke, who sits on the board of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, says the province has to better educate doctors about the devastating disease. Burke’s wife, Kelly, was bitten by a tick on her wrist in May 1999 while at her parents’ farm in New Ross, Lunenburg Co. Within days, Kelly, a graphic artist, developed the bull’s-eye rash around the site of the bite. She later developed flu-like symptoms, vision problems, mental fogginess and fatigue.
“When she went to see doctors, they didn’t have any information about Lyme disease at all. They said, ‘We don’t have Lyme disease in the province, so don’t worry about it,’” Burke said.
“In my opinion, this is an emerging disease in this province, so I wouldn’t expect physicians to be well versed in this. But you never hear them say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’ll find out.’
“That’s what I’d expect of a professional health-care provider.”
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