By Brian Owens, Reporter, The Courier
With the arrival of summer and warmer temperatures the risk of encountering ticks, and the diseases they carry, is on the rise in Charlotte County.
If you spend a lot of time outdoors – golfing, hiking, camping, or even just walking your dog – it’s important to learn about the risks of tick-borne disease and take steps to protect yourself and your pets.
This is a map provided by the New Brunswick Department of Health on the risk for Lyme Disease carrying ticks. (Submitted)
The presence of blacklegged ticks that can carry Lyme Disease and other infections in New Brunswick is a relatively recent phenomenon. But climate change has been allowing them to steadily increase their range northwards at a rate of about 30 kilometres a year. The risk is not limited to the summer months. Ticks are active any time the temperature rises above 4 degrees, so they may be out and about even on mild winter days.
Tracy Marcotullio, manager of the Oromocto and Area SPCA, said that twenty years ago they rarely found ticks on the animals in their shelter, and didn’t bother to test them for Lyme. Now ticks are common, and they assume they are likely to be carrying Lyme.
“It’s becoming worse and worse every year,” she said. “The amount of ticks we’re picking off the cats and dogs that come into our shelter has grown exponentially.”
Ticks are now widespread in New Brunswick – you can encounter them anywhere, but they are particularly common in the southern part of the province. The disease risk follows a similar trend – a little over 20 per cent of the ticks in New Brunswick carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, with most of them concentrated in the south.
Safety first
The best way to protect yourself and your pets is to avoid being bitten in the first place.
Ticks lie in wait in long grass, so keep to cleared paths and trails as much as possible. Wear socks, long pants, and long-sleeved shirts, and tuck pants into your socks or boots. Insect repellents containing DEET or icaradin are the most effective, as is clothing treated with permethrin.
Marcotullio recommends you talk to your vet about the best options for your pets in terms of monthly flea and tick treatments, vaccines, and insect repellents.
Since ticks are tiny and sneaky it can be difficult to notice when they climb aboard. Light-coloured clothing makes it easier to spot any ticks that might be hitching a ride.
Once you return home from an outing where you may have encountered ticks, check yourself and your pets carefully. Pay special attention to the following areas:
- in and around the hair
- in and around ears
- under the arms
- inside belly button
- around the waist
- between the legs
- behind the knees
New Brunswick’s most recent Lyme disease strategy was published in 2017, but Tara Chislett, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said the province is still working hard on controlling the illness.
“While New Brunswick does not currently have a formal Lyme disease strategy, there are numerous initiatives and resources in place to address tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme disease,” said Chislett. “Public Health continues to focus on strategies to reduce the risk of exposure and illness for people, monitors the occurrence of tick-borne diseases, collaborates with federal, provincial, and territorial partners to support tick surveillance activities and additional work based on best practices and evidence-based information.”
As part of disease surveillance, in 2024 the province added additional tick-borne illnesses (Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Powassan virus, and Borrelia miyamotoi) to the list of New Brunswick reportable diseases, she said.
Information about risk areas, and advice on how to aviod ticks, or what to do if you are bitten, can be found at www.gnb.ca/ticksmart.
Once bitten
If you find a tick attached to you or your pet, it’s important to remove it as soon as possible, but do so carefully, pulling gently but firmly until it pops free.
“You don’t want to stress the tick out, if it is carrying Lyme it can vomit more bacteria as you pull it out,” said Marcotullio.
Pulling too violently, or twisting, can also cause the tick’s head to break off under the skin. Special tick-removing tools are often available from the SPCA, veterinarians, and doctors’ offices, or if you have access to a 3D printer you can create your own.
The rule of thumb is that a tick must be attached for at least 24 hours in order to transmit Lyme, and even then it is not a sure thing – the risk of contracting Lyme from a tick in a high risk area that was attached for 24 hours is about 3 per cent, said Morgan Andrews, pharmacy manager at Guardian Drugs in St. George. But that is not a hard and fast rule, and even if it has been less time it is good idea to consult your doctor or pharmacist.
Since 2023 pharmacists in New Brunswick have been able to assess tick bites and provide a prophylactic dose of antibiotics when appropriate to help minimize the risk. Andrews said he sees at least one person with a tick per day, and more often than not is able to provide a prescription.
“It can be reassuring to get a quick assessment even if it turns out you don’t need treatment,” said Andrews.
In order to be treated by a pharmacist you need to be in an area with moderate or high risk of Lyme – which is all of Charlotte County – see them within 72 hours of being bitten, the tick must have been attached for 36 hours, you must not yet be showing any symptoms of Lyme disease, and they must be able to reliably identify that the culprit was a blacklegged tick. A photo can work, said Andrews, but bringing in the tick itself is better.
If you do find ticks on yourself or your pets, even if they are not yet attached, it is good idea to have them conclusively identified. The website eTick can do so using photos, and that information is passed on to the government of New Brunswick to help monitor their populations across the province. You can also send ticks to Geneticks, a private lab in Ontario to have them tested for up to 15 different tick-borne illnesses.
While the risk of Lyme and other diseases carried by ticks can be worrying, by staying alert and taking the right precautions you can continue to enjoy New Brunswick’s great outdoors.
