Tick season in the Eastern Townships
Each year, with the arrival of warmer temperatures and as people spend more time outdoors, public health authorities remind people across Canada to frequently check themselves and their pets for ticks.
According to Jade Savage, a professor in the department of biological sciences at Bishop’s University, in the last few decades, the number of ticks in the Eastern Townships has been increasing steadily.
This is a result of warmer temperatures and habitat changes caused by urban development, which give tick populations a better chance of finding hosts such as rodents and deer, making them more prevalent in Southern Quebec. In the next few decades, certain tick species in Canada are expected to rapidly expand their geographical range even further north.
Dr. Savage, who has been studying ticks for nearly seven years now, created the website etick.ca in 2014. The website is “a free public platform for image-based identification and population monitoring of ticks in Canada.”
According to Dr. Savage, people all over Canada can submit a photo, as well as provide the date and location that they found the specimen on etick’s smartphone application or website. Within 24 hours, the submitter will receive an identification of the tick species and information of medical relevance from a professional. The timely information from etick professionals allows submitters to make the right medical decisions following a tick bite.
Canadians are also invited to visit etick to educate themselves by consulting the tick submission database. By viewing the dots on the interactive map, people can easily examine the photos, tick species, dates, and host types that have been submitted by people anywhere in Canada.
“While etick is very much geared towards the Canadian public, it serves a dual purpose,” said Dr. Savage. “etick also works with the National Public Health Institute of Quebec (INSPQ) and the Public Health Agency of Canada.”
From a medical perspective, etick allows health professionals and experts from government agencies to track and prevent the spread of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses in Canada.
While the Eastern Townships has experienced increases in the number of Lyme disease cases in the last decade, Dr. Savage stated that “crisis is a big word for the increasing prevalence of tick populations in Canada because not all tick species carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.”
There are over 40 tick species in Canada, however, Lyme disease can only be transmitted by the deer or blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), said Dr. Savage.
Overall, the fear of being bitten by an infected tick should not stop Canadians from enjoying the outdoors during the warm summer months. However, it is important for people to be aware of the preventive measures to protect themselves and their pets against ticks, as well as the steps to take if they do find one.