Mount Allison prof calls for accessible tick-testing in New Brunswick

As an expert on ticks and the diseases they carry, Vett Lloyd is calling on the government to offer quick, accessible testingof the arachnidsso people know immediately what they might be infected with.

"Early testing would really be an asset, and the earliest testing you can get is [to] test the tick," Lloyd saidfrom her tick lab at Mount Allison University.

She said about 27 per cent of the ticks the Sackville lab tests carry Lyme disease, a common bacterial infection that can cause serious illness.

It's a number Lloyd has seen climb ever since the lab began testing in 2012.

An increasing number of ticks are also carring the bacteria that causes anaplasmosis, which can lead to serious adverse health effects if left untreated.

Lloydsaid given the increase in tick populations due to climate change, it's time for the province's health-care system to adapt.

Lloyd says currently, people have a few options for testing ticks.

"Sometimes a hospital will do it but if you're not in one of the places where you can access that, you can get it tested commercially." she said.

"We used to do it for free. We can't anymore because we ran out of money. I would love to see this as part of the healthcare system."

WATCH | 'Early testing would really be an asset':

N.B. Scientist calls on province to fund more tick testing

20 days ago

Duration 1:33

Vett Lloyd of Mount Allison University wants to offer free tests for tick-borne pathogens at her lab, but says she needs support

Dr. Richard Garceau, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist with the Vitalit Health Network, said in an emailed statement that theDr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centrein Moncton, for example, performs its own tick testing.

Its lab identifies ticks brought in by patients referred by a doctor or health-care provider and can help determine next steps in care. Garceau said the lab is also used by Public Health to track numbers in the province.

No one from the Department of Health was made available to comment onthe province's role in testing. Its website suggests anyone bitten by a tick consult ahealth-care provider.

Cost of testing deterrent to quick diagnosis

Lloyd's tick lab offers testing in conjunction with a private company, charging anywhere from $60 to nearly $400, depending on the breadth of the testing and how quickly results are requested.

She said the hassle and cost of testing may be deterring people from getting crucial insight into the bugs they find on themselves, their childrenor their pets.

It's a delay that can have significant health impacts, since symptoms of manytick-borne diseases present as the common flu and people expect to get better without any interventions.

"Maybe you've got something else, maybe you'll just get better and you don't even bother trying to seek out health care."

When it comes to diseases that get more severe over time, waiting can be life changing.

In the long run, preventative measures would alleviate some of the strain on health-careservices, said Lloyd.

A national worry

New Brunswickis not alone when it comes to an increasingnumber of harmfultick-borne diseases.

When Canada began tracking Lymedisease cases in 2009,there were 144 reported that year. According to last year's count, that number had grownto 2,544.

Heather Coatsworth, chief research scientist at the National Microbiology Laboratory, said black-legged ticksare Canada's most common species. They carry bacteria that can cause Lyme disease. And since theirfirst boom in the 1990s, ticks are spreading.

"It's become a viable environment here in Canada for those ticks to live and breed," Coatsworthsaid. "It's warm enough and humid enough now andespeciallyin a lot of southern areas of Canada for those ticks to thrive."

While Lyme disease isthe most prevalent threat,Coatsworthand Lloyd warn there are other types of bacteria on the rise.

Anaplasmosis numbers exploding in N.B.

A bacterial infection known as anaplasmosis is also spread by black-legged ticks.

The infection attacks white blood cells and is generally present in the same areas asLyme disease, Coatsworth said.

The disease just became a notifiable disease this year, meaning cases must be reported to Public Health.

Information Morning - Moncton11:45Anaplasmosis

Ticks can carry Lyme disease, but they can carry and transmit other illnesses too. One of them is anaplasmosis. Jeanne Armstrong spoke to scientist Heather Coatsworth, withthe National Microbiology Laboratory.

Coatsworth said she has seen "hundreds and hundreds"of positive cases at the national lab.

According to Lloyd's research, New Brunswick has seen positive cases of it, too.

"It's exploded," she said of the ticks her lab tests. "Within four years in New Brunswick we went from having two per cent of the ticks we test infected with it to 10per cent."

Symptoms of anaplasmosis can be delayed and often present as fever, chills and other common symptoms. If left untreated, it can lead to more serious illness such as renalfailure and respiratory distress,according to Health Canada.

"It's a really quick increase, which means that a lot of our wildlife is infected now ... it's this ongoing spiral that, once a pathogen is established in wild animals, you just get more and more of it that can spill over into the human population."

Lloyd said experts are also on alert due to slight increasesin cases of the Powassan virus, which also begins with mild, flu-like symptoms. It remains one of the more rare types of pathogens that ticks carry.

Future could include home tick tests

Ultimately, Lloyd said, a rise in tick populations is inevitable and it matters how the province takes action moving forward.

"Where we really need to see progress is a vaccine that is going to be protective and not have side effects," she said.

For now, Lloyd is in the initial stages of working with research groups to make home tests similar to point-of-care tests used to detect Covid-19.

"Something a person can do to check themselves rather than placing more burden on the health-care system."