OUTDOORS
“Flying Tick’ ILLUSTRATION: STEVE SARVAJC
TICK INVASION
As hitchhiking ticks make the warming praries their new home—a new app is soon to reach Alberta, during provincial submit-a-tick freeze. ANGELA LACKEY alackey@cjournal
T
he pandemic has led more Albertans to enjoy the great outdoors in record numbers while simultaneously shutting down Alberta’s submit-a-tick program. This is unfortunate timing because the Lyme diseasecarrying black-legged tick is a growing problem in Canada, even in places that would traditionally be considered uninhabitable such as the Prairies. But the good news is a new tick tracking service, eTick, will be launching in Alberta in late spring. ALBERTA SUBMIT-A-TICK Over the past three years, Alberta monitored ticks through the submit-a-tick program, where ticks could be mailed in or dropped off at the Alberta Health Services Environmental Health Office for testing and identification. Since starting, it had seen increased submissions of ticks to be tested. Last year, the number of ticks increased to 2,870 from the 960 sent in 2013. Of those, 63 were capable of carrying Lyme disease and
CHRISTIAN KINDRACHUK ckindrachuk@cjournal
three tested positive for the bacteria. “All available resources and staff at Alberta Health are helping to manage and monitor the pandemic, and the tick program was paused,” read a statement by Zoë Cooper, a spokesperson for Alberta Health. Cooper’s statement notes that Albertans are still able to physically submit a tick to their health care provider for identification and assessment in the meantime. GOING OUTSIDE But that process can sometimes take months to complete. And that delay will take place against the backdrop of growing numbers of campers and hikers in the spring. A statement by Alberta Parks read, “last year was the busiest camping season in Alberta to date, and we’re expecting similar numbers in 2021.” Dr. Maarten Voordouw, an assistant professor of veterinary microbiology at the University of Saskatchewan
with 10 years of tick and tick-borne disease research under his belt, said if more people are out camping and hiking, they’re more likely to encounter ticks. TICKS IN ALBERTA One place you’re likely to stumble upon ticks in Alberta is in the Edmonton River Valley, where it’s warm and relatively humid, according to Janet Sperling, who is involved with the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation. And according to an interactive map from the Government of Alberta, several ticks in the Edmonton River Valley were submitted in 2019, with one testing positive for the Lyme virus. But the problem is we can’t rely on these numbers because we don’t really know the tick populations or how many Albertans have been bitten. “We know a lot of people get a tick bite, but we don’t know exactly how many people because nobody’s keeping track,” Sperling said.
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