May is national Lyme disease awareness month. Yvonne Mosley, chair of the Lunenburg Lyme Association, urges people to be vigilant about Lyme disease and always do a tick check when you come inside.
“They like dark, dank places and they do not discriminate,” she said in an interview.
The province has seen a dramatic increase in Lyme disease rates over the past 20 years, with most of the diagnosed cases in the southern part of the province.
Donna Lugar was diagnosed in 2011, after a long battle for answers. Now, she’s an advisor to the Lunenburg Lyme Association.
Officials aren’t taking Lyme disease as seriously as they should, she said, and noted Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang’s 2019 tweet that dismissed chronic Lyme as “a cult.”
Lugar noted that many doctors in the province still aren’t educated on all the ways Lyme disease can present and only look for the bulls eye rash — which only happens in a small percentage of cases.
“We jokingly say you won the lottery if you actually get the beautiful bulls eye rash because the doctors know that one; they don’t know the other ones.”
Lugar has a blog with links to resources for people who are looking for more information.
Both Mosley and Lugar agree that the government has a role to play in educating doctors and the public.
“Health care is a provincial responsibility,” Mosley said. “But Lyme disease is the responsibility of all three levels of government — whether it’s putting signage in parks, or proclaiming Lyme disease awareness month and putting information on ticks and tick prevention on their social media sites.”
Ticks are generally found in wooded areas, long grass and trees.
To prevent ticks, always tuck pants into socks, wear light coloured, long sleeve shirts and use a bug repellent with deet.
If you do get a tick on you, be careful not to twist or squeeze it when removing the tick and keep the tick to be tested for Lyme disease.
