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Unravelling the mystery of Lyme disease: Why Canada needs to do more

Rian Michelsen is a rising star. Fifteen years ago, he was the toddler who burst out from behind the curtains singing Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas. As a young boy, he played the lead role in Oliver in his birthplace of Bermuda, before moving with his family to Toronto five years ago. Now, as a 17 year-old high school…

Lymescape Survey – a Call to Action

[CanLyme Note: This survey was funded in part by the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation through Mount Alison University in New Brunswick who also provided in-kind IT support, and the New Brunswick government’s SEED program. LymeNB’s volunteers put an enormous amount of effort into this project while collaborating with the university.] The impacts of the COVID-19…

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WSU researchers crack the Lyme disease code

The next time a tick feeds on you, Washington State University researchers hope to make sure persistent arthritis caused by Lyme disease doesn’t linger for a lifetime. Troy Bankhead, associate professor in WSU’s Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology department, and his team have spent more than a decade analyzing an immune evasive protein of Borrelia burgdorferi,…

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Lyme Disease Awareness Month

NO TICK IS A GOOD TICK, all species of ticks that will attach to humans and pets can carry various diseases. May, 2020 May is National Lyme Disease Awareness Month in Canada. It gives us a chance to remind and educate others about the disease and how to avoid it. Ticks aren’t going to give…

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Lyme Disease: Diversity of Borrelia Species in California and Mexico Detected Using a Novel Immunoblot Assay

Abstract Background: With more than 300,000 new cases reported each year in the United States of America (USA), Lyme disease is a major public health concern. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (Bbss) is considered the primary agent of Lyme disease in North America. However, multiple genetically diverse Borrelia species encompassing the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) complex and the Relapsing Fever Borrelia (RFB) group…

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Lyme Disease Frontiers: Reconciling Borrelia Biology and Clinical Conundrums

Abstract Lyme disease is a complex tick-borne zoonosis that poses an escalating public health threat in several parts of the world, despite sophisticated healthcare infrastructure and decades of effort to address the problem. Concepts like the true burden of the illness, from incidence rates to longstanding consequences of infection, and optimal case management, also remain…

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How do infections like the coronavirus jump from animals to people?

National Geographic “Zoonotic diseases, which pass from animals to humans, kill millions of people every year. Where do they come from and how can we avoid them?” ” Some zoonotic diseases are relatively benign, but many—for example, Lyme disease—are quite harmful. Some, such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can be deadly. “ Read full article

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Monitoring of Nesting Songbirds Detects Established Population of Blacklegged Ticks and Associated Lyme Disease Endemic Area in Canada

Abstract This study provides a novel method of documenting established populations of bird-feeding ticks. Single populations of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, and the rabbit tick, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, were revealed in southwestern Québec, Canada. Blacklegged tick nymphs and, similarly, larval and nymphal rabbit ticks were tested for the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl), using PCR and…

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Best advice yet on COVID-19 from front line expert… important for Lyme sufferers.

FYI… Best good advice on COVID-19 that applies to us all by a front line physician at one of the busiest COVID hospitals in the US. Knowledge saves lives, reduces fear. Pass along if you feel this is important information. Watch Presentation

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Dr. Ralph G. Hawkins: Bridging Differences

Dr. Ralph Hawkins gave an excellent talk at the Bridgewater, N.S. conference where he delved into the many problems with diagnostics, treatment and surveillance of Lyme disease. He also broached the topic from a legal perspective discussing the legal principles pertaining to Standard of Care. Watch presentation

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Canadian MP Len Webber addresses Minister of Health on Lyme disease

Minister of Health Patty Hajdu readily admits there is “still lots to learn” about treatment of Lyme disease but as typical opts to keep sick people sick without options of extended antibiotic treatment that has helped hundreds of thousands of people who had to leave Canada for help. Instead she wants more research, none of…

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Potential treatment for Lyme disease kills bacteria that may cause lingering symptoms, study finds

March 12, 2020 “For decades, the routine treatment for Lyme disease has been standard antibiotics, which usually kill off the infection. But for up to 20% of people with the tick-borne illness, the antibiotics don’t work, and lingering symptoms of muscle pain, fatigue and cognitive impairment can continue for years — sometimes indefinitely. A new…

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Shania Twain: I’m never going to have my old voice again

March 8, 2020 “She got the tick-borne illness in 2003, and had to undergo open-throat surgery after her voice was damaged by the effects of dysphonia as a result of the disease. Now, Shania has said she “mourned” the loss of her voice,  …” ” Speaking in a preview clip for an upcoming interview, she…

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Canadian has brain of 70-year-old after ‘flawed’ test let disease go undiagnosed for years

March 11th, 2018 TORONTO — A young Canadian woman has been left with the brain of a 70-year-old after suffering from Lyme disease for more than seven years without treatment because she says tests failed to give her a proper diagnosis. St. Catharines, Ont., woman Nikki Kent was bitten by a tick in 2013 at…