New tool to better track ticks on P.E.I.

The province is stepping up monitoring for ticks, and asking Islanders to help.

Starting this month, anyone who finds a tick on themselves or their pet can upload a photo on eTick.ca, a website designed to help track and identify ticks. 

"With eTick now being available, I think that that will provide a really good capture of the type of ticks that are on the Island, and where they're being found," said Vett Lloyd, a biology professor at Mount Allison University. Her team has been monitoring ticks on P.E.I. for several years. 

"It's simply easier to take a picture of the tick and upload it. It's less work than taking the tick off your pet and going to a veterinarian." 

Back in 2018, Lloyd's team conducted a story of ticks on P.E.I., and found the majority of ticks identified on the Island were black-legged ticks that can carry Lyme disease, but only about 10 per cent of them tested positive for the disease. 

She said since then, tick populations on the Island have increased by 10 to 15 per cent. She said some of that could be due to ticks travelling to the Island on birds coming from New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. 

"The other possibility is that there are small established populations," said Lloyd. 

"That's really what I think public health on the Island is focusing on, as well as some people in wildlife and natural resources. What we have found from the testing end is, again, we're still seeing mostly black-legged ticks. And we're still seeing about the same rate of the Lyme disease bacteria."

Lloyd said if people find a tick on their pet, it's still a good idea to bring the tick to a veterinarian to have it tested for Lyme. Anyone who finds a tick on themselves can submit it to any Island hospital for analysis at the provincial lab. 

She said so far in 2021, just halfway through the spring tick season, her team has already received double the number of ticks it does in a normal year. 

"Of course, there are many possible reasons for this: weather, early spring, increased awareness about ticks. But it might mean more ticks," said Lloyd. 

Christine Noronha, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Charlottetown, said it's possible ticks are becoming more established on the Island, in part because they are surviving through milder winters and successfully breeding on P.E.I. 

She said it's positive news that the majority of Island ticks have been found without Lyme disease — but that could change. 

"When they start to come from other places and they have Lyme disease, they're going to start transmitting it to mice and birds," said Noronha. 

"Once that starts to get established, then you're going to have more animals and hosts that have Lyme disease, then the transmission is going to become more prominent, and we will see it more often than we're seeing it right now."

Noronha said animals who spend time outdoors should be checked for ticks daily, especially if they walk in areas with tall grass or brush.  

Even though the risk of Lyme disease is currently low on P.E.I., Islanders should take every precaution to avoid ticks while outdoors, she said. This includes keeping their skin covered, and applying insect repellent with DEET or Icaridin. 

"You need to put it on everywhere," said Noronha. "All over your body, even on your gear, and wear clothes that aren't too loose. Make sure you put your socks over your pants. And when you get home, take a shower and throw your clothes into the dryer under high heat so it will kill them."

Provincial officials recommend people check themselves daily for ticks, and said finding and removing them within 24 hours prevents infection.

In 2020, there was just one lab-confirmed case of Lyme disease, and that individual had recently travelled outside the province. 

All suspected and confirmed cases of Lyme disease are reported to the Chief Public Health Office as part of the province's Public Health Act and Notifiable Diseases Regulations.

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