May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month world-wide.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, and is usually transmitted to humans by ticks.
Some people develop an expanding, reddish rash a few days after the tick bite.
If a rash develops, it may look like a bull’s eye, but it can also be a uniform reddish colour. It is very important to get early treatment, so that the bacteria do not become established in deep-seated tissues in the body.
If left untreated, the most common Lyme disease symptoms are fatigue, joint and muscle ache and pain, tingling, numbness, burning sensations, forgetfulness, poor short-term memory, and disturbed sleep.
Lyme disease can mimic other diseases such as MS, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
When hiking or camping, it is important to stay on groomed trails where ticks are unlikely to be hiding. If walking in the bush, wear light-coloured clothing and tuck your pants into your socks. When you return home, do a tick check on yourself and your pets.
If you find a tick, remove it with fine-pointed tweezers, by grasping it as close to your skin as possible, and pull it straight out. If the tick is alive, save it in a vial with a slightly moist piece of paper towel. If the tick is punctured, damaged or dead, place it in a tightly sealed vial of ethyl alcohol to preserve it. Take the tick to your Health Unit to have it identified, and tested for Lyme disease.
See a health-care provider if symptoms occur after a tick bite. Take a coloured digital picture of any rashes that develop.
Research conducted by Lyme Ontario reveals that songbirds widely disperse Lyme disease-carrying ticks.
Based on a recent Lyme Ontario study, 35% of the blacklegged tick nymphs that were collected from songbirds during northward spring migration were infected with the Lyme disease bacteria. People can be bitten in their own backyards.
For information, visit www.lymeontario.com or e-mail info@lymeontario.com.
Submitted by John Scott, research scientist, Lyme Ontario, jkscott@bserv.com
