Lyme Life

I have been a knitter for many years but got very serious about the whole fiber arts thing because I managed to contract Lyme disease. I became very ill with terrible neurological symptoms and fatigue almost three years ago. The beauty of knitting and spinning is that you can sit in your rocking chair all day on days where you are incapable of doing anything else and still have something to show for your time at the end of the day.

All of that being said, here is some information on Lyme in Ontario and how to prevent it.

In a research paper published last week, 67% of ticks collected at Turkey Point Provincial Park were found to be infected with Lyme disease where none had been infected only 5 years ago. Lyme is moving very quickly into Ontario and research is not keeping pace with it. Birds, deer and mice are moving infected ticks around the province at a rapid rate.

I have spoken to people infected in Brantford, Waterloo, Toronto, Lake Lake Erie shoreline, Thousand Islands, Cottage Country, Sault Ste Marie, Thunderbay, all over Ontario really. There is no possible way to determine if the ticks in your area have or do not have Lyme apart from collecting and testing the ticks. Even then, the one biting you could be a tick recently brought into your area from a high risk area by a migrating bird. Never assume that a tick does not have Lyme because it is 'not' in your area.

Many people who become infected with Lyme in Ontario are currently seeking testing and treatment out of country in the US because our Canadian doctors are woefully under educated about Lyme. The testing methods currently used in Canada are also generating an inordinate number of false negatives. Because of the trend for the majority of Lyme infected individuals to leave the country, these statistics are not being reported to local health authorities. This means that the number of Lyme cases in Canada are grossly under reported.

The best policy at this point is to take precautions against tick bites. Wear long sleeved, light coloured clothing with pants tucked into socks when working in potentially tick infested regions. Also spray an insect repellent with DEET or a good quality herbal repellant on clothing. After being in the outdoors, remove clothes and place in a hot dryer for 15-20 min. to kill any ticks on clothing. Perform a tick check taking special care to look behind ears, backs of knees, scalp, groin, armpits and other areas that are likely to be overlooked. If you find a tick, be sure it is removed properly in a way that will not cause the tick to vomit into the wound as this increases the chance of infection.

See the www.Canlyme.com website for tick removal methods as well as all other things to do with Lyme. Never burn or coat a tick with anything to remove it as this encourages regurgitation into the wound.

In other research, single ticks have been found to carry up to 6 different pathogens. This means that you can get multiple illness from a single tick bite. Lyme is not the only concern. Diseases like bartonella, babesia, ehrlichia, mycoplasma, tick paralysis, and tularemia can also be transmitted by ticks.

I personally would err on the side of caution where ticks and Lyme are concerned. At this point, there is no vaccine for Lyme so the best policy is prevention.