THUNDER BAY — Active surveillance for black-legged ticks that have the potential to transmit Lyme disease will expand to areas outside of Thunder Bay starting next year. Ticks can infect people and animals with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and a variety of serious health effects. The Thunder Bay District Health Unit already conducts active surveillance for ticks, using the proven method of dragging a white cloth sheet on the ground, to which ticks attach and are easily identified. In 2023, the program will be significantly expanded with the support of the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network. Thunder Bay is a new addition to the list of “guard areas” being watched across the country. Funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research supported the launch of the network in 2018, followed a year later by the Canadian Lyme Sentinel Network. It is a multidisciplinary project involving patients, physicians, social scientists, veterinarians, and academic and government researchers focused on improving the diagnosis, surveillance, prevention, and treatment of Lyme disease. One of the first initiatives was to create a national oversight structure to collect comparable data using standardized methods. Ken Deacon, coordinator of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit’s vector-borne disease program, said Thunder Bay’s inclusion in the program means active surveillance for black-legged ticks will take place next year in five rural areas. Featured sites include:
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park Lake Hazelwood Upsala (temporary – subject to change) Cloud lake Rabbit Mountain on Belrose Street
Black-legged ticks have never been found at the first four sites, but the Rabbit Mountain site is what Deacon described as “our guaranteed site” for them, based on years of continuous active surveillance.
On October 25, a public health inspector working with a student found 18 black-legged ticks on Rabbit Mountain in just 45 minutes. Deacon called this extraordinary, saying the ticks were “hyperactive” for whatever reason — possibly the mild weather. “It just goes to show that you have to be in the right place at the right time. If you happen to be walking your dog or going for a hike, that could be very unlucky for you,” he said. All 18 ticks have been sent to a federal lab in Winnipeg to be tested for Lyme disease. “This time of year, most people think they’re safe, but ticks are active down to 4 C. Today we’re talking 15 C,” Deacon said in an interview Monday. He stressed that personal protection remains essential unless there is snow on the ground. If black-legged ticks are collected at any of the new monitoring sites, Deacon said that would be an indication that the population is spreading. In the case of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, “It’s under a corridor, so there are migratory birds and there’s a high chance of black-legged ticks dropping by.” Thunder Bay was declared a Lyme disease risk area by Public Health Ontario in 2019.
