With outdoor activities ramping up at this time of year, residents and visitors alike are being advised to take steps to ensure they are not impacted by tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease.
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month in Canada.
Jill McAllister, a Central Alberta woman whose son has been infected with Lyme disease for the past 11 years, says prevention is a must.
“It is a terrible, terrible thing,” McAllister told the Gazette. “Prevention is our only real defence. If you get treated within the first two weeks, with normal antibiotics, you can get rid of the infection. After that, it's all about management getting it into remission.
“Really key is to avoid being bitten by being covered up. And by using insect repellants.”
According to the Central Alberta Lyme Society, early signs of Lyme disease can include fever, fatigue, muscle or joint pain, headache, and numbness or tingling that moves from one part of the body to another.
Over the long term, Lyme disease can lead to chronic fatigue, headaches, body pain, and other ailments.
Ticks that carry Lyme disease bacteria can be found in a number of places, including on cut or raked lawns, golf courses and other sports fields, playgrounds, dog parks, flower beds, near bird feeders, in wooded areas, and in tall brush and grasses.
As well, migratory birds are known to be carriers of Lyme disease-carrying ticks.
Protecting yourself from tick bites is one of the best ways of preventing the diseases that can result, the society says.
Preventive measures can include wearing long pants, long sleeves and long socks, tucking your pant legs into socks or boots and tucking shirts into pants, wearing light-coloured clothing to make spotting ticks easier, and checking for ticks after spending time outdoors.
It’s also important to use insect repellant when outdoors.
Places to check for possible ticks or tick bites include on the scalp or neck, ears, back, underarms, belly button, waist and hips, pelvic area, between legs and behind knees.
McAllister says ticks can be found throughout Alberta, and can be the size of a grain of sand all the way up to the size of grapes.
“They are horrible creatures,” she said.
Further information can be found on the Central Alberta Lyme Society’s Facebook page or alberta.ca/lyme-disease-tick-surveillance.
