We Need to Talk About Ticks

 As the climate warms up (it is 31C as I write on May 31), various critters are moving north and some of them are distinctly undesirable.

In my long-ago and far-distant youth, we didn't have earthworms at Lake Anne! (True fact. It was just too cold for them.) And we didn't have ticks. Now we have both.

The problem with ticks, other than that they bite and suck blood and aren't cute, is the collection of tick-borne diseases they bring with them.

The species of greatest concern in terms of human health is the black-legged or deer tick, Ixodides scapularis, which can transmit the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. These ticks like humid, cool weather and begin their activity as soon as the snow is gone.

A second species is massed at the U.S.-Canada border, ready to invade. This is the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. This little fellow is an 'aggressive biter' and brings with it a new set of pathogens. It has been reported over the past couple of years in both Ontario and Quebec.

Quebec Public Health recommends the following to avoid tick bites;

• wear long sleeves and trousers

• use a DEET- or icaridin-based insect repellent, such as these:

• walk along trails, not through the brush
• maintain yards and cut long grass, especially in areas where children play
• check for ticks when you return home; removing a black-legged tick within 24 hours significantly reduces the risk of contracting Lyme disease

If you see a tick, you are advised to take a picture and send it to the eTick website, established by Bishop's University Professor Jade Savage. Someone will contact you and advise you of what, if any action to take.

Montreal public health has issued a prescription for pharmacists to offer post-exposure prophylaxis to anyone bitten by a tick. Rapid post-exposure antibiotic treatment can stall Lyme disease in its tracks.

I don't know all this through osmosis, so I would like to acknowledge the source, from which I drew liberally, or plagiarized, if you will:

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/an-aggressive-biter-there-s-a-new-tick-to-worry-about-in-quebec-and-ontario-1.6377541