They’re nasty, persistent and often you don’t even know they are there.
Ticks-some as tiny as the period at the end of a sentence-can cause some big problems. Carriers of a variety of tick-borne diseases including Lyme Disease they infest every part of the province but are of the highest concentration in mainland Nova Scotia. May is National Lyme Disease Awareness Month and at least one person thinks it should be held a little earlier.
“As soon as it gets warm outside, out come the ticks,” said Donna Lugar, the Nova Scotia representative for the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation and the founder of the Nova Scotia Lyme Support Group.
Diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2011 Lugar has been busy raising awareness about ticks and tick-born diseases including Lyme. However there are many diseases they can carry including Anaplasmosis, Powassan Virus, Tularemia and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Lyme Disease can affect people in different ways;some will never even know they were bitten by a tick until becoming ill later on, while some develop severe illness up to and including death. Symptoms which can affect every system in the body, can mimic other illnesses making Lyme Disease hard to diagnose without testing.
Last November the 2-day Bridgewater Lyme Conference was held and the attendance was more than expected, so it is definitely recognized as a growing concern said Lugar.
There are things you can do to protect yourself from ticks like wear long pants outside with pant legs tucked into socks, wearing light-coloured clothes to make spotting ticks easier, wear tick repellent, and avoid long grass and brush where ticks like to hide.
“The biggest thing I think though is doing daily tick checks, it sort of has to be a routine in everybody’s day that goes outside,” said Lugar.
For more information on Lyme Disease visit the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation website at www.canlyme.com
