This is a tick species that British Columbians know well.
Rocky Mountain wood ticks are, not surprisingly, predominantly found in the Rocky Mountain region of Canada. They are widespread throughout the BC interior where they’re often found in concert with Saskatoons (Amelanchier canadensis) and native roses (Rosa spp.).
Of the roughly 40 tick species known to make their home in Canada, there are nine that are capable of transmitting bacteria, viruses, and/or protozoa to humans and domestic animals. Non-infectious secretions from the salivary glands of some species can also cause paralysis, allergic reactions and/or immune system suppression.
When you take a look at the career of microbiologist George Chaconas, there’s a clearly identifiable moment when the focus of his research abruptly shifted from the study of one fairly obscure organism to another.
When it comes to horses, two things are immediately clear: Everyone loves them and no one likes it when they get sick. That’s especially true if the offending disease is hard to diagnose.
Powassan virus has been generating headlines in Canada in recent months following news reports that an Ottawa woman developed encephalitis in the wake of a tick bite more than a year ago and has been hooked up to a ventilator ever since.
Climate change is a huge topic for Canadians to wrap their brains around and, frankly, most of us don’t have time to delve into the specifics. If you ask the average Canadian what the impact of climate change will be on their lives, most have no trouble stating that it will cause temperatures to rise, glaciers to melt, and forests to be reduced to ash.
TBRF is one of the oldest known tick-borne illnesses in this country, with documented cases in the BC Interior stretching as far back to the early 1930s.
When the Chronic Complex Disease Program (CCDP) first opened its doors at BC Women’s Hospital in 2013, it was almost immediately dubbed the “Lyme clinic” by many in the media as well as in the Lyme community even though it was clear from the outset that Lyme disease would be just one of three illnesses being serviced by the clinic. The other two are fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
It’s rare for a microbiology lab to make headlines in the mainstream media, but the G. Magnotta Lyme Research Lab managed to do just that in 2020 following the publication of its landmark paper on the complex issues surrounding the microbiology of Lyme disease.
October is Women’s History Month in Canada and while much attention has been paid recently to the women who are, for the most part, successfully leading Canada’s COVID-19 response, women leading research efforts into ticks and tick-borne illnesses in this country have gone relatively unnoticed.