With the arrival of warm springtime weather comes a reminder from the Renfrew County and District Health Unit of the dangers of tick bites and Lyme Disease.
According to a recent health unit press release, current risk areas are in the Eastern portion of Renfrew County, with ticks consistently identified near Arnprior, Calabogie, and Cobden. However, ticks capable of transmitting Lyme Disease can still be found outside of these areas, say officials.
Renfrew County and District (RCD) has many areas that are suitable habitats for blacklegged ticks (also called deer ticks), which have the potential to transmit Lyme disease to humans. The rate of Lyme Disease in RCD has been increasing, and since 2020 has surpassed the Ontario average.
“Renfrew County and District Health Unit (RCDHU) continues to conduct tick surveillance, which helps to identify the risk areas where infected blacklegged ticks are more likely to be found,” reads the release.
Only infected blacklegged ticks can transmit Lyme disease. In most cases, the tick must be attached for at least 24 hours for the Lyme disease bacterium to be passed on to humans. Early symptoms of Lyme disease in humans usually appear between three and 30 days after a bite from an infected blacklegged tick.
Signs and symptoms of Lyme disease include: a bull’s-eye rash surrounding the bite location; fever; chills; headache; muscle aches and joint pains; fatigue and swollen lymph nodes.
You can prevent tick bites when outdoors and lower your risk of Lyme Disease by: wearing light-coloured clothing; wearing closed footwear and socks, with long sleeve shirts tucked into your pants, and your pants tucked into your socks; using an insect repellant with DEET or Icaridin according to label directions; and by conducting a tick check.
Consult your pharmacist or healthcare provider if you are concerned about a tick bite, particularly if the tick was attached for 24 hours or more, say officials, preventive treatment may be recommended.
If you are bitten by a tick, you can submit the tick to RCDHU for identification, or you can do this online by visiting: Geneticks Statistics Center Link – Tick testing service, interactive tick maps and statistics or eTick – A public platform for image-based identification and population monitoring of ticks in Canada For more information visit www.rcdhu.com or call 613-732-3629 extension 555.
(Sherry Haaima)