I don’t know about you but I have been seeing a large number of posts this year regarding the number of ticks being seen; in places never seen before; and in an abundance that is terrifying to those of us that appreciate what a single tick bite can do if that one tick is carrying disease(s). Unfortunately, this increase does tend to happen after winters/springs that help ticks to survive and flourish.

Have you seen the posts, mostly by Vet Clinics, regarding ticks that have been in containers for month and then lay eggs? Thousands of eggs? Ticks are gross AND can be very dangerous.

The percentage carrying disease is also increasing with some areas having upwards of 70-80% carrying disease. Are you doing everything you can to try to prevent a tick bite? If not, please start.

Because some social media in Canada no longer allows links to news articles, many great articles are being missed unless you search for them on a regular basis. I do want to reiterate; however, some of the below mention the bull’s-eye “target” version of the erythema migrans (EM) Lyme rash. That particular version of the EM rash is seen in a minority of cases. Other rashes are actually more common. A bit more on that here – https://www.hopkinslyme.org/lyme-disease-awareness/lyme-disease-rash-presentations-may-not-be-what-you-think/.

The recent post by Justin Timberlake advising that he has Lyme disease has resulted in a lot of press as well.

Here are just a few that have been published over the last few months:

• “What to know about Lyme disease amid ‘steady increase’ in Canada, U.S.” – https://globalnews.ca/news/11313806/lyme-disease-explained-canada-us-cases-ticks/

• “Nova Scotians watch their backs – and each other’s – during another tick-infested summer” – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-tick-summer-lyme-disease/ (You can usually read a couple of articles before they ask you to purchase a subscription.)

• A podcast with the same journalist that wrote the above article – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/.

• CBC has been very informative regarding ticks and tick-borne diseases. I am not going to include them all. You can go your own search, but here are two – https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/ticks-expert-more-nova-scotia-prevention-1.7541104; and https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6795771.

• CTV also usually does a few. Here are two – https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/video/2025/08/05/what-is-lyme-disease-and-how-can-you-protect-yourself-over-the-summer/ and https://www.ctvnews.ca/video/2025/06/04/ctv-national-news-the-growing-spread-of-ticks-and-tick-borne-disease-in-canada/.

• A few recent Saltwire articles: https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/halifax/opinion-halifax/ticks-lyme-disease-health-conditions; https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/halifax/ns-tick-bites-pharmacist-assessment; and https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-ticks-prevention-population.

• Global News – https://globalnews.ca/news/11265813/climate-change-tick-borne-diseases/.

• I have never heard of this group before – https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2025/07/lyme-disease-is-changing-in-a-warming-world-and-so-should-the-news/.

• Makes sense to me that preventing a tick bite; reducing tick numbers; and stopping the tick from transmitting anything (not just Lyme) is the way to go. A vaccine for just one tick-borne disease might make people too lax in preventative measures, in my opinion – https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/tick-vaccine/.

These are just a sampling. With social media algorithms, limitations, etc., we are only seeing a small amount of what is being printed/posted. We need to help get this information out to a wider public, but how?

Thoughts on the best ways to increase the knowledge of everyone? Would love to hear from folks.