EASTERN ONTARIO: One in five ticks could be disease carrier

Eastern Ontario’s tick population is growing and the Eastern Ontario Health Unit considers Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, Prescott-Russell and the Ottawa area to be at-risk areas for Lyme disease as ticks are disease carriers.

According to the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, the risk of catching Lyme disease from a deer tick is very low as long as the tick has been on you for fewer than 24 hours. After that, the chances of passing on Lyme disease increase significantly. The deer tick is also known as the black-legged tick.
Testing in 2016 and 2017 revealed over 20 per cent of ticks in the Ottawa-area had Lyme Disease, health unit doctor Vera Etches told the National Post. They assume any given tick carries Lyme disease, Etches said.

Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics but can produce a host of bizarre health complications, if untreated, including partial paralysis and organ failure. A common sign is a bull’s eye-shaped rash, but not everyone gets one; flu-like symptoms, as well as fevers and aches, are also common. Symptoms typically appear three to 30 days after a tick bite.

Ticks are most active in the summer. They climb up long grasses and grab onto anything warm-blooded passing by. Then they hide somewhere on your body and settle in for three to five days to feed on your blood.

The health unit recommends checking yourself for ticks and showering to wash them off if you’ve been in the great outdoors. Removing a tick is tricky: You have to grasp it near its head without squeezing it too hard with a pair of fine-tipped tweezers. The head will be embedded in your skin. If you detach the body from the head, it can vomit into your bloodstream, passing on the disease. Wash your hands and the site afterwards with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. If you start feeling unwell or you think the tick was attached to you for over 24 hours, consult a doctor.