This photo from June 18, 2018 shows a tick from the Rocky Mountains.
Image Credit: FLICKR / NPS / Jacob W. Frank
May 28, 2022 – 1:55 p.m.
A BC health authority has identified Kamloops and the entire Okanagan Valley as high-risk areas for Lyme disease.
The map may indicate a change in public messaging.
The president of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Jim Wilson, said that public institutions have long recognized that the disease is transmissible to BC.
Kamloops and Okanagan are among the areas highlighted in this map of high-risk Lyme areas in BC
Image Credit: SEND / Port Moody Health
“They’re finally recognizing what we’ve known for a long time,” he said.
“It’s here, it’s been here and that’s something the public needs to know.”
Wilson and his family live in West Kelowna, and his son and daughter contracted Lyme disease while living there.
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He believes that public institutions are aware of the prevalence of the disease, but have been slow to publish the data.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s our tax money that is used to collect this data. Retaining it is harmful.”
Wilson is pleased to see that the map was posted to warn the public about dangerous areas, but said ticks can be found almost anywhere in the province, as they like to walk migratory birds.
“This map shows certain areas, but there is no zero-risk area for Lyme disease … some people may be surprised to find that ticks may be in the front yard.”
Wilson hopes the next step in BC’s fight against Lyme disease will be better evidence. He believes that a “significant percentage” of British Colombians currently live with Lyme disease who do not even know it, as many tests produce false negatives and many doctors misdiagnose the disease as other neurological problems.
It is important for people with Lyme disease to know that they have it as soon as possible to maximize treatment options and recovery outcomes, he said.
READ MORE: TICKET SEASON: Penticton hikers found six in their bodies
The BC Center for Disease Control says the Lyme disease rate has remained low in the province, “unlike eastern Canada.”
For those who are bitten by a tick, the BC CDC says the infection can be prevented by removing the early ticks.
“In BC, less than 1% of tested ticks carry the B. burgdorferi bacterium that causes Lyme disease,” according to the website.
“Although the number of ticks submitted for testing has increased in recent years, the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in ticks has remained consistently low over time.”
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And there may be more humans and ticks crossing over the past.
James Steidle of Stop the Spray BC, a herbicide advocacy group, believes tick-to-human encounters are on the rise due to habitat loss.
“You have more hosts, more wildlife in the remaining natural habitats,” he said.
“If the animals they feed on are concentrated in a smaller area … the ticks will find it easier to breed.”
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