Tick at-risk areas expanded
Climate change cited as reason why more of the disease carriers are in Niagara
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority tweeted out Tick Awareness #Tuesday, asking residents to be smart when it comes to the insects as the weather improves and families head outdoors.
Ticks have been making a slow migration north, most likely a result of climatic changes.
Niagara Region public health, and its Hamilton counterpart, has identified two new areas as high risk: Point Abino in Fort Erie and Christie Lake in Hamilton.
Other risky areas in Niagara include Wainfleet Bog, Mud Lake and the area of Rotary Park on Pelham Road in St. Catharines.
“We do a search for the blacklegged ticks in the spring and the fall at different stages of their life cycle, and if we’re finding them in both periods then the ministry will declare that area and 20kilometre around it a risk area,” said John Burnett of Niagara’s environmental health unit.
“In that radius as the birds move around and the animals move around its presumed that 20 km will be a risk area. In 2017 it was all analyzed, and in 2018 it is declared.
“Hamilton, through their active surveillance program, found the same thing, so they’ve declared a 20-km radius. It creeps up to Niagara but isn’t in Niagara.”
Burnett said that when birds are migrating, ticks have always fallen off but haven’t been able to establish and live their life cycle here — until recently.
“With the impact of climate change, with the winters not being as long and as cold, they’re now surviving and thriving here.
“That’s the presumption by the scientific world, that it’s a climate change effect. The ticks are slowly creeping up further north,” said Burnett.
The American dog tick and the black-legged tick make up nearly the whole population of ticks in Niagara
The American dog tick is the most common, with 85 per cent of the ticks that we have, and do not carry any disease at this point. They’re very active from the end of April until the end of July.
The other is the black-legged or deer tick, making up close to 15 per cent of the population, and present year-round.
“People seem very surprised when through the winter they find a tick on them or their pets, that’s the one that has the potential to carry Lyme (disease),” said Burnett.
“Of black-legged, 13.8 per cent had the bacteria in it last year.”
Lyme disease can be debilitating and isn’t something to take lightly. It often starts out like a bull’s-eye type rash around the bite of the tick with symptoms such as fever, fatigue, headache and muscle and joint pain. Left untreated it can cause severe, chronic and debilitating illnesses such as cardiac, neurological and arthritic conditions and can even be fatal.
Burnett said that chemical sprays have not made a significant difference and suggests residents take precautions such as using protection containing DEET and Icaridin.
“Ticks are very vulnerable to direct sunlight. It will kill them they’ll dehydrate and die, a halfhour in the sun will kill them,” said Burnett.
“In general our schools, playgrounds and golf courses are pretty safe areas because the grass is short.
“They’re (ticks) looking for leaf cover, they live in the ground and burrow into the ground. Ticks come up looking for the host. They can sense us like other insects with the body heat, the vibration, our breath.
“When we’re close by, they’re on low-lying vegetation and they grab on and climb up.
“If you know you’re going into a tall grass area, forested areas protected from the sun, wear long pants and tuck your pants in,” Burnett suggested.
Most of the time ticks will be discovered in hair or hidden places such as underarms.
It is recommended to wear light colour clothing, as ticks tend to roam around for a while before they latch on, and it can be easier to spot them.
If you’ve been out in a tick area, Burnett suggested you grab a shower or bath because they will wash off quite easily.
Niagara Region’s website carries information as well as descriptions of the American dog ticks, which are most of the time easy to recognize.
“But if it gets engorged it’s hard to tell, or, if you’re not sure, people can bring the ticks in for identification to any of our offices,” said Burnett.
That’s proved to be a popular program, with 3,017 dog ticks and 539 black-legged ticks submitted in 2017.
“We say (to bring them in) two Ziploc’s because they sometimes sneak out of a pill bottle. They’re unfortunately part of our environment now, and the personal controls are the best we can do.”