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Lyme disease-carrying ticks now in Alberta: study

Vince Burke

A five-year study is showing that Alberta is not safe from a species of tick that carries Lyme disease - known as Ixodes scapularis, and although he hasn't seen that particular species of tick turn up, a Camrose veterinarian says they have noticed an overall small increase in the arachnids.

Dr. Jamie Whiting of the Camrose Veterinarian Hospital said it is cyclical where one year there will be no ticks found on animals and the next there is.

"Even an increase for us is a pretty small number. This year we have probably seen less than six animals come in with ticks," he said.

"Even though that is probably a small increase it is pretty small numbers."

Whiting said the animals he has seen with ticks are primarily dogs and a lot of it depends on risk factors.

"If it is a dog that goes outside a lot, runs through the grass, or people who go camping with their dogs a lot those are higher risk dogs and certainly putting them on a tick preventative program is probably prudent," said Whiting, adding dogs that are off leash and are taken hunting are also high risk for exposure to ticks.

A tick prevention program can involve a topical tick preventative cream that is absorbed, and kills the tick when it bites the dog or on contact with the dog.

Whiting said if your dog has a tick, you may not see any real signs.

"Certainly if you have a dog running through the grass, out hunting, or camping, it's basically a hands on thing.

"You have to run your hands through him and look for any lumps of bumps that weren't there previously. Once they get engorged with blood, they look like a black round bulge on the skin," he said.

Whiting said it's still rare to see ticks, but because there are more than before and because the numbers of the tick that carry Lyme disease has also risen, people have to be aware of it.

Veterinarians from more than 100 Alberta clinics sent in nearly 1,200 ticks picked off of pets between 2007 and 2010 for the study preformed by University of Alberta graduate student Daniel Fitzgerald.

Of the 108 ticks tested, 22 tested positive for the Lyme disease pathogen, and 16 of those were in dogs that had not travelled outside the province.

The study also found that various species of the bug are making homes in major urban centres like Edmonton and Calgary.

Whiting if you do find a tick you won't know if it carries Lyme disease until the animal is brought in and the tick is removed and tested.

"We do have other types of ticks that don't carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease . that's why if anybody brings in an animal that they have found a tick on, we send the tick to the lab and they will send it to a pathologist, who will identify which species of tick it is," said Whiting, who added treatment of the animal would begin if the its determined the tick had Lyme disease.

"For me I have never seen an animal with Lyme disease or (a tick) that we have tested got a positive and (the animal) shown signs of Lyme disease."

Lyme disease can infect the heart, joints and nervous system if left untreated, and in extreme cases can cause paralysis.

Lxodes scapularis is known to live in Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes, as well as the Atlantic Coast of the U.S.

- with QMI Agency files

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