Month: April 2023

Lyme Disease Awareness Month 2023

We are back to some in-person events! Lots of things being organized for Lyme Disease Awareness Month in Nova Scotia. Some are still in the organizing stage and have to be firmed up but I will put a “TBD” (locations/dates to be determined) on any that are yet to be finalized and I will update this post as they are.

May 1st & 2nd – Halifax City Hall to be lit “Lyme” green

May 2nd – Flag-raising at Halifax City Hall – 8:30 am

May 15th – Flag-raising at Province House – 9:00 am (revised)

May 15th-19th – Province House lit “Lyme” green

First week of May – MODL’s Municipal Services Building at 10 Allée Champlain Dr, Cookville, to be “Lyme” green

May 1st – 11th – Victoria Park, Amherst, to be “Lyme” green

May 1st – 31st – Truro Civic Square Library to be “Lyme” green, with possible exceptions

May 23rd – Hike Nova Scotia, Tick Prevention Webinar, 7pm – https://www.hikenovascotia.ca/courses-tick-prevention/

May 29th – 6-8:00pm – A discussion with Dr. Richard Dubocq and others, Lunenburg Legion, 34 Duke Street, Lunenburg. Dr. Dubocq is a retired Lyme doctor from Maine who treated many in the Atlantic Provinces. The founder of Atlantick will also speak, as will Dr. Claudia Schmiemann of the Holistic Health Centre/Keliza Holistic Living.

Rescheduled – Due to impending weather, and the wildfires, the 1st Annual Walk/Fly a Kite event is being tentatively rescheduled to Sunday, June 11th, same time and place. Volunteers still needed. – The June 4th – 1st Annual Walk/Fly a Kite for Lyme Disease Awareness – 1-4:00 pm (assembly & registration begins at 12:00 noon at the gazebo) – Wolfville Waterfront Park. This year we will be remembering and honouring Hailey Kane who died tragically from Lyme complications in 2018 at 17 years of age. Volunteers needed – Brian Milligan – 902-848-6286.

June 17th – Woodlawn Public Library – “Ticked Off! Protect Yourself From Lyme Disease” – a screening of “Faces of Lyme” and Q&A. Registration is required – https://halifax.bibliocommons.com/events/6441818a11597f2505a403a7.

Public screenings of “The Quiet Epidemic” (trailer – https://youtu.be/cwIi7Y37Nnk)

The province has proclaimed May as Lyme Disease Awareness Month. As well, all NS municipal units were contacted requesting they proclaim May as Lyme Disease Awareness Month and light facilities green for all, or a portion, of the month. Many municipal units do not undertake proclamations but a few of those will be posting about tick prevention on their social media.

The following municipal units have agreed to proclaim:

Halifax Regional Municipality

Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Municipality of the County of Annapolis

Municipality of the County of Colchester

Municipality of the County of Kings

Municipality of the County of Pictou

Municipality of the District of Chester

Municipality of the District of Guysborough

Municipality of the District of Lunenburg

Municipality of the District of Shelburne

Town of Amherst

Town of Antigonish

Town of Bridgewater

Town of Lunenburg

Town of Middleton

Town of New Glasgow

Town of Pictou

Town of Port Hawkesbury

Town of Shelburne

Town of Stellarton

Town of Trenton

Town of Westville

We ask that everyone decorate their homes in lime green for the month of May to help raise awareness. Would love to see how you go lime green for Lyme. Share photos on social media with the hashtag “LymeDiseaseAwarenessMonth” and/or “Stopthebite”.

If those on social media want to post about Lyme Disease Awareness Month on their personal pages as well as on any of their local community pages that allow posts, it’s a good time to remind people of the proper way to remove ticks (the federal government video is helpful – https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/video/lyme-disease-properly-remove-tick.html). Also mentioning the variety of erythema migrans Lyme rashes (https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/NCEZID_rash_poster3r1-508.pdf) is important as the bull’s-eye version is only seen in a small minority of cases AND not everyone gets a rash. The fact that both blacklegged and dog ticks can carry a variety of illnesses is also frequently overlooked. Also not mentioned enough is the fact that present testing is not 100% accurate so a negative test does not necessarily mean that you do not have Lyme and/or other tick-borne disease.

Although dog ticks have not yet been found to carry Lyme, as far as I know anyway, they can carry other things that can be transmitted to humans. No attached tick is a good tick!

The eTick tool (https://www.etick.ca/) is helpful for tick identification and determining approximately how long the tick may have been attached to a host.

Geneticks (https://www.geneticks.ca/) is a private tick testing company in Canada, with labs in Ontario and New Brunswick. Although there is a fee, it can be worth it to have an engorged tick tested if removed from a human or pet. It’s not a diagnostic tool, but can be a life-saver if symptoms arise. As well, if you can afford it, I highly recommend the common panel rather than just Lyme as ticks can be carrying more than Lyme or things instead of and it’s almost impossible to have those diagnosed by health care practitioners in Nova Scotia.

Here are some additional links for sharing/information:

Please do what you can to help raise awareness.

Thank you.

Ticks the Season!

You probably know by now that there is no longer a tick season in Nova Scotia, and many other areas, due to the fact that we can have tick friendly temperatures any month of the year. Therefore, you need to give ticks a thought all year if outdoors in tick habitats, or really just about anywhere.

Although they prefer shady, moist areas, there is still a chance of coming upon them in areas where you would least expect them. They can fall off a host anywhere. Migratory birds transport ticks all over the place. This means ticks can drop off birds in your yard, a park, or anywhere the birds stop to feed, or fly over.

The fact that migratory birds can bring ticks from many areas also results in the possibility of ticks carrying many things as they come from areas with different tick-borne diseases. They can also bring different types of ticks. Two services that are available in Canada to provide more information is eTick – https://www.etick.ca/ and Geneticks – https://www.geneticks.ca/about-geneticks/. One is for determining what type of tick it is and how long it may have been attached and the other is for testing a tick that was attached. Although there is a fee for tick testing, I highly recommend testing for common infections if it was attached and engorged. Although this is not a diagnostic tool, it can provide valuable information to you if symptoms arise.

At one time, not that long ago, ticks were not expected to be active until May. Therefore, May is generally known as Lyme Disease Awareness Month around the world. Since 2016, however, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) has made March “National Tick Awareness Month” – https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/about-cvma/latest-news/the-2023-national-tick-awareness-month-campaign-reminds-us-that-we-have-all-the-tools-we-need-to-outsmart-ticks/. They have a great website full of information – https://ticktalkcanada.com/.

It is generally accepted that our pets can be sentinels of disease – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313866/. There needs to be more information available to the general public as to what veterinarians are seeing in dogs as that can give a good indication of what is present in different areas and at what rate. If ticks are biting our pets, there is a good chance that they could be biting us.

Many veterinary hospitals now post fairly regularly regarding ticks and tick-borne diseases – https://petfocus.ca/bedford-south/tick-trouble/. They usually have accurate, up-to-date, information, with many veterinarians now recommending year-round tick treatment.

Information is now ramping up about ticks and tick-borne diseases. However, some information can be outdated, and some can be wrong. Therefore, always check what you read and don’t share unless you know it’s accurate – especially regarding how to properly remove a tick. The federal government has a helpful video in this regard – https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/video/lyme-disease-properly-remove-tick.html.

Although our dogs have tick treatments, a Lyme vaccine, and quick tick-borne disease tests, humans are not so lucky so prevention is key. We take good care of our pets but need to take better care of ourselves.