Tick season has begun in Alberta, so take precautions to prevent Lyme disease. Photo from the Alberta Government website.
While warm weather brings out bears and other cute critters, it also brings out pesky little ticks.
It is tick season, which means people need to protect themselves and their pets.
To do so, wear long sleeves, long pants tucked into socks, light coloured clothing, and use bug spray with DEET or Icaridin.
When leaving a grassy or wooden area, check for ticks on yourself and your furry friends.
Ticks are small arachnids that fasten themselves onto the skin and feed on the blood of their host, and are most active during the spring, summer, and autumn when the temperatures are above 4 degrees Celsius.
On top of the ticks that are living in Alberta year-round, ticks are brought to Alberta by migrating birds coming back from warmer climates.
While there are numerous species of ticks in Alberta, most ticks in Alberta do not carry Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi, which is the bacteria that causes Lyme disease in people.
But, evidence shows that the tick species capable of carrying Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi are expanding their range in Canada.
Currently, the risk of getting Lyme disease in Alberta from a tick is considered very low, because between 1991 and 2023, there were only 184 human cases of Lyme disease reported to the Ministry of Health.
Each of those cases were acquired while travelling outside of Alberta, in areas of the county where ticks that carry Lyme disease are known to circulate.
Lyme disease not only affects humans, it also affects wildlife and domestic animals.
While Lyme disease can cause an infection, if left untreated, it can cause long-term, serious complications and disability, and symptoms can develop between 3 and 30 days after the tick bite.
Early signs of Lyme disease infection include a round, red rash that spreads at the tick bite site, also known as a “bull’s eye rash”, and flu-like symptoms, such as tiredness, headaches, sore muscles and joints, and fever.
Antibiotics treat Lyme disease, and treatment in the early stage of the disease increases the chance of successful recovery.
On top of carrying Lyme disease, some ticks in Alberta can carry organisms that can cause diseases in humans, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is transmitted by Dermacentor andersoni and D. variabilis, Powassan virus, which is transmitted by Ixodes cookei and I. scapularis, and Tularemia, which is transmitted by D. variabilis.
While ticks can cause these diseases, the Ministry of Health only hears upwards of 3 cases per year and are mainly acquired locally.
Those who spot ticks are able to submit a photo of it to the Alberta Submit-a-Tick program, which monitors the types and distribution of ticks in Alberta, and assesses the risk of acquiring the tick-borne Lyme disease with Alberta.
To learn more about tick, tick safety, and how to submit photos, click here.
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