Laboratory says more P.E.I. ticks testing positive for Lyme disease

The head of a New Brunswick laboratory that tests P.E.I. tick samples for Lyme disease says there's now a one in five chance a tick will test positive, compared to the Island's usual level of one in 10.

Vett Lloyd, a Mount Allison University professor who operates the Lloyd Tick Lab, says P.E.I.'s recent mild winters could be an explanation for the increase, because ticks love damp weather. 

"They've been increasingly happy for the past several winters. The odd cold snap we get isn't enough to deter them. They just sort of hang out in the soil and spring back, revitalized, afterwards," she said.

Samples sent from Prince Edward Island after being found feeding off of a person or pet remain quite low, Lloyd said, but the general trend across Canada this year points to an overall increase.

Provinces like Nova Scotia and Ontario, which she described as the "tick centres of Canada," are also seeing more Lyme disease cases from tick bites.

Lloyd said it would be wise for public health offices everywhere to monitor the numbers.

"Ticks are basically specialized… they're little crawly bags of diseases, so it's a good idea to keep tabs on what's coming out of them," he said.

On top of Lyme disease, Lloyd said some provinces have reported other, potentially deadlier, diseases related to tick bites. 

Some pathogens are bacterial but "the other ones attack your red blood cells and your white blood cells, so that's really not good for you," she said. "It can have serious consequences more quickly than Lyme disease, which takes several years to gear up, but they all are absolutely debilitating illnesses."

For any of the illnesses caused by ticks, early symptoms include fever and flu-like symptoms.

Should Islanders find a tick on themselves or a pet, Lloyd said it's crucial to remove it immediately.

"The best defence against ticks [is] checking your body and checking very carefully. You're looking for basically something that looks like a freckle, but it's a freckle with legs," she said.

"Ticks like the discreet cracks and crevices which we all have. You may not want to look there, but if you've been out in the bush, it doesn't hurt."

Tweezers work great for tick extraction, she said.