Author Archives: Canlyme

The General Symptom Questionnaire-30 (GSQ-30): A Brief Measure of Multi-System Symptom Burden in Lyme Disease

[CanLyme Note: The term post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) referenced in this article is contentious as it implies treatment has eradicated the infectious Lyme disease borrelia bacteria. There is an abundance of evidence showing that the bacteria can survive recommended treatment periods. Many people do well with longer term treatment while others do not respond at all. Other limitations of Continues →

Canada loses a great Lyme disease defender, Paul Haefling author of Oh Canada: The “Politicks” of Lyme Disease

Obituary Haefling, Paul M.A. (English), LL.B – Passed away surrounded by his loving wife Catherine of 54 years and family members at the Wellington Terrace Nursing Home in Fergus on Monday, January 13, 2020. Paul Haefling, in his 79th year, was the husband of Catherine (Lipton) Haefling. Predeceased by his parents Jerome and Irene (Sullivan) Haefling and by his sister Continues →

Genetic Manipulation of Borrelia Spp

Abstract The spirochetes Borrelia (Borreliella) burgdorferi and Borrelia hermsii, the etiologic agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever, respectively, cycle in nature between an arthropod vector and a vertebrate host. They have extraordinarily unusual genomes that are highly segmented and predominantly linear. The genetic analyses of Lyme disease spirochetes have become increasingly more sophisticated, while the age of genetic investigation in the relapsing fever spirochetes Continues →

Canada: Serious flaws in a medical system lacking medical and scientific ethic

Presenting at a Lyme disease conference held in Bridgewater, NS, in November 2019, it was said that Nova Scotia lacks proper protocols when dealing with the ignored epidemic of Lyme and tick-borne diseases [TBD’s]. We have the highest incidence in Canada conservatively estimated as 454/ 100,000 across the province to as high as 1,826/100,000 in the western zone. These estimates Continues →

Legal case against IDSA doctors making progress

[CanLyme Note: In this case the IDSA means Infectious Disease Society of America who are the defendant doctors.  The Lyme disease file in Canada is dominated by IDSA, via their Canadian equivalent AMMI, the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases of Canada who are just as devoid of ethical standards who control the highest positions within our health systems provincially Continues →

What’s driving the explosion in Lyme Disease in Canada?

In today’s Big Story podcast, it’s a disease we never expected to see with any regularity in Canada, only to realize—perhaps too late—that maybe that was dumb. It’s a mistake to think of Lyme Disease as a rare illness now. Because all the data we have—and we don’t have enough—shows us that it is exploding in Canada, with numbers spiking Continues →

Time for Canada to follow U.S. recognition of mother-to-fetus Lyme disease transmission, says Mount Allison biologist

Andrew Rankin (arankin@herald.ca) February 11, 2020 SACKVILLE, N.B. —  The federal U.S. public health agency has set an example for Canada to follow by acknowledging that Lyme disease could be passed from mother to fetus with serious consequences, says a Mount Allison University expert. “The first step is acknowledging that the transmission happens,” said Vett Lloyd, a biologist and founding Continues →

Excellent Tick Bite Prevention video from Lunenburg Lyme Association, Nova Scotia

Produced for the Lunenburg Lyme Association in collaboration with and support from CanLyme (Rob Murray, a CanLyme board member) and the District of Lunenburg, the Province of Nova Scotia, the Town of Bridgewater, the Lunenburg Board of Trade, the East Coast Naturopathic Clinic, South Shore Regional Hospital Auxillary, the Town of Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, the South Shore Wildlife Association, Clearwater Continues →

Non-anticoagulant heparin as a pre-exposure prophylaxis prevents Lyme disease infection.

Abstract Lyme disease (LD) is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl). After transmission to humans by ticks, Bbsl spreads to multiple organs, leading to arthritis, carditis, and neuroborreliosis. No effective prophylaxis against human LD prior to tick exposure is currently availa-ble. Thus, a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against LD is needed. The establishment of LD bacteria at diverse sites is Continues →

Turkey tick news: A molecular investigation into the presence of tick-borne pathogens in host-seeking ticks in Anatolia; Initial evidence of putative vectors and pathogens, and footsteps of a secretly rising vector tick, Haemaphysalis parva.

[CanLyme Note: The title may mislead some to believe they are studying a turkey tick.  This is a study of ticks in the country of Turkey.] Abstract This Turkey-based study investigated the presence of various tick-borne microorganisms in a broad-range of host-seeking ticks (n = 1019) that exhibit both hunter and ambusher characteristics. All collected ticks were analyzed individually via PCR-sequencing, resulting in Continues →

Prevalence of Infection and Co-Infection and Presence of Rickettsial Endosymbionts in Ixodes Scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Connecticut, USA.

Abstract Ixodes scapularis is currently known to transmit 7 pathogens responsible for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, tick-borne relapsing fever, ehrlichiosis, and Powassan encephalitis. Ixodes scapularis can also be colonized by endosymbiotic bacteria including those in the genus of Rickettsia. We screened 459 I. scapularis ticks submitted to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Tick Testing Laboratory with the objectives to (1) examine differences in infection prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma Continues →

Chronic Lyme Disease: An Evidence-Based Definition by the ILADS Working Group

Abstract Objective: Chronic Lyme disease has been a poorly defined term and often dismissed as a fictitious entity. In this paper, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) provides its evidence-based definition of chronic Lyme disease. Definition: ILADS defines chronic Lyme disease (CLD) as a multisystem illness with a wide range of symptoms and/or signs that are either continuously Continues →

Talking Ticks and Lyme Disease Testing with Dr. Vett Lloyd

Most researchers are inspired to specialize in a particular field by a fascinating graduate course, an inspiring professor or a promising lab test. Dr. Vett Lloyd has a slightly more unique reason for devoting a large portion of her career to the study of Lyme disease: she was actually diagnosed with it. A geneticist by training, with an MSc-equivalent degree Continues →