Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation: Spring Tick Alert

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - April 3, 2007) - Canadian
Lyme Disease Foundation -

Spring brings not just warmer weather but also some pretty nasty
disease carrying bugs that are becoming more and more prevalent in
Canada. Lyme disease carrying ticks have now been found Canada wide.
They are only slightly larger than the period at the end of this
sentence when they are in the nymphal stage.

We have areas of higher risk in Canada but we have no areas within
the 10 provinces that can be considered Lyme disease free. Our
friendly migratory birds transport these ticks around at random. In
the U.S. where our springtime migratory birds come from there is an
estimated 200,000 human cases of Lyme disease each year. Canada has
no standard surveillance criteria so little is known about how many
cases occur each year. We do know Lyme is being misdiagnosed as other
illnesses, or not diagnosed at all. Lyme is robbing many Canadian
children of their youth and adults of their careers.

Lyme disease can cause serious long-term health issues if not
identified and treated early. It can affect the brain, eyesight,
hearing, heart, nervous system, muscles, joints, digestive tract, and
lymph nodes. Because Lyme disease is a multi-system disorder many
systems of the body can be affected at once.

Ticks that carry Lyme disease can be found in your lawn, on your
pets, in tall grass or brush. If outside do not brush up against
brush or tall grass, wear a repellent containing DEET, and do a daily
full body tick check on yourself, your children and your pets. Talk
to your veterinarian about protecting your pets. Use fine tipped
tweezers to remove an attached tick. Prevention is the best medicine.

For more information visit: www.canlyme.org