‘Failed to inform’
Dear Editor:
RE: Public health updates tick precautions, May 21.
Mr. Phil Wong, health protection operations director with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, failed to inform the public that Babesia odocoilei is present in blacklegged ticks (ixodes scapularis) in the local health unit catchment area.
Human babesiosis caused by Babesia odocoilei is an infectious disease carried by blacklegged ticks.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer is legally obligated to inform the public that this red blood cell parasite is cycling in nature in the local environment. Importantly, local independent researchers have found this blood parasite throughout the area, and have published their findings in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Dr. Mercer has failed to inform the public about this serious, tick-borne zoonotic disease.
Mr. Wong stated that the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is here but did not mention that human babesiosis caused by Babesia odocoilei is also here.
John Scott,
Fergus