Lyme disease now endemic in town
Radio-Canada talks to a man who was bitten by a tick in Lafontaine Park. The item goes on to discuss Lyme disease – not the only illness that can be caught from these pests – and the lengthy list of things you must do to avoid ticks or deal with them, because you shouldn’t cower in fear at home but should still go out and blunder around in the underbrush.
Among other things, afterwards, you need to have someone else help you inspect your entire body “comme le dos, l’arrière des oreilles et le creux des genoux”; there’s no explanation how to proceed if you do not have someone handy to do this.
The doctor suggests calling 811 if you find a tick. You may have a long wait, as 811 wait times have become much longer in our enshittified times.
Shoe drop: Lafontaine Park doesn’t even have any wild areas with underbrush, does it?
MarcG 09:15 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
Not super enthused about this development – Chronic Lyme is really debilitating and falls into the same ‘poorly understood and not really treatable besides symptom management’ category as Long Covid, ME/CFS, and Fibromyalgia.
The article doesn’t mention it but there are also mosquito and tick repellent products that use lemon eucalyptus oil rather than DEET or picaridin which have the added benefit of smelling very nice.
Kate 09:36 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
As with mosquitoes, I’m curious to know whether we could eradicate ticks without causing an unintended ecological crisis. Wouldn’t the world be a better place without those two creatures? Does any delightful species rely on them for food or obscurer needs?
Of course we never do know. Whatever poison we set out for ticks could turn out to devastate other species. It’s always Murphy’s Law with biology.
I remember reading that during Expo 67, the whole site was fogged with pesticides to keep the endemic shadflies away, as a result of which a lot of river fish died of starvation. It was probably DDT in those days, too.
dhomas 09:42 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
I was bitten by a tick a little under 2 weeks ago. I’m not sure why the article says to call 811. My doctor told me to go see a pharmacist. The pharmacist was fully prepared with an online form to fill out for diagnostic and reporting purposes. They even inspected the tick itself (I saved it after removal) and the bite site to see if I was at risk of disease. The pharmacist was able to directly prescribe antibiotics, too. My tick bite seemed to occur within about 6 hours of discovery, so I was likely not at risk (though for other medical reasons, they still prescribed the antibiotics as a preventative measure). The procedure was very quick and effective. I’d definitely recommend going to see the pharmacist.
Also, use icaridin spray to prevent tick and mosquito bites.
Kate 10:02 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
Glad you were able to get medical care so effectively, dhomas.
MarcG 10:27 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
This tick biologist in NB says that ticks are absolutely useless
Ian 10:49 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
All the more reason to celebrate that opossums are in town – they can eat their body weight in ticks each year and are completely unaffected by them.
Kate 11:31 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
How do we encourage opossums to hang around our parks and gardens, then?
Meezly 11:55 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
Opossums were regarded as dirty pests but the perception is gradually changing now as they’re getting their due recognition as a valuable species. They’re also resistant to ticks and rabies. It seems more opossums are being spotted in more suburban areas. Unfortunately, they are also frequent victims of vehicle collisions as their defence mechanism is to freeze.
jeather 20:59 on 2026-08-02 Permalink
Surprisingly, faking dead (“playing possum”) is an entirely different defence mechanism from freezing (which I do not believe they do though I am not sure). They’re the only extant North American marsupial, current evidence has marsupials originating in South America.
Janet 11:41 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
In these parlous times, apparently little kids are being taught the helpful rhyme:
Check your pits, check your bits
Check your back, check your crack
I’ve had a possible tick bite twice. Both times I went to a pharmacy and both times they refused to prescribe antibiotics because I didn’t have the tick with me and the rash was already there.