Lyme disease focus of fundraising cyclists

Two cyclists peddling across Canada to raise awareness about Lyme disease have made it to P.E.I.

Daniel Corso and Tanner Cookson, from St. Catharines Ont., have cycled 7,000 km so far, from Victoria to Charlottetown, raising about $35,000 for the Canadian Lyme Disease foundation.

Corso said their journey was prompted by the suffering of a close friend who has the disease.

"[She] is 24 years old. Five years ago she was a marathon-running, scholarship student. Very bright, very active," he said.

"Today she can barely leave her bed. She can't really focus on a sentence to read it, or even watch TV. And she's usually in too much pain to sleep."

Corso said the disease could have been treated if she or her doctors had known more about it.

"It was always her wish that if she is to suffer, something good is supposed to come out of it, so we're trying to be a part of that good," he said.

After leaving P.E.I. the two cyclists will tour Nova Scotia, with their last stop in Newfoundland.

Some cases on P.E.I.

Lyme disease is carried by ticks, which can spread the illness when they bite.

P.E.I. health officials say there have been eight lab-confirmed cases of Lyme disease on the Island since 1997.

Seven of those people received tick bites while travelling off the Island.

Studies at the Atlantic Vet College show that between 10 and 20 per cent of ticks tested on P.E.I. carry Lyme Disease.