Lyme disease might be more common, but this tick-borne disease is on the rise in Canada

Tick experts are warning Canadians to be on the lookout for symptoms of a tick-borne disease whose case counts have been steadily increasing over the past 15 years.

Anaplasmosis is an infection contracted by humans and animals caused by the Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacteria and spread by ticks. 

In the early 2000s, provinces and territories began reporting a handful of human cases each year, but experts are now warning that they're seeing up to 500 cases a year in the regions where anaplasma-carrying ticks live, although not all of those are necessarily full-blown clinical cases of the infection.

"It is kind of the new kid on the block," said Heather Coatsworth, a research scientist for the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in an interview with Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC's The Dose. 

Ticks carrying anaplasmosis are primarily found in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario, though cases have been reported in Manitoba and Alberta. 

Anaplasmosis is a disease caused by a bacterium that infects white blood cells in humans and animals. 

Early symptoms include fever, chills, headache and fatigue. If left untreated, longer-term symptoms include respiratory failure, anemia, liver disease and death in severe cases. 

"That's primarily with immunocompromised people, as well as children and elderly," Coatsworth said. 

It takes roughly 18 hours of feeding for a tick to infect the host with the bacteria.

"Since it's a blood-borne disease, it can also be transmitted by blood transfusion [and] solid organ donation," said Coatsworth. 

"And there is the hypothesis that it can be transmitted from mother to baby as well."

The first case of anaplasmosis in a Canadian was reported in 2009. 

Anaplasmosis shares common early symptoms with Lyme disease, including flu-like symptoms. 

In fact, the same ticks that carry Lyme disease — typically black-legged and Western black-legged ticks — spread anaplasmosis by biting humans.