Category Archives: Research

CanLyme is dedicated to promoting advancements in Lyme disease research. More research is needed to accurately diagnose and treat Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and CanLyme has taken measures to address this, see our Venture Grants Policy.

CanLyme board member Reuben Kaufman, PhD has an ambitious tick study project underway on Salt Spring Island, BC and his program is also able to feed ticks to another CanLyme board member Janet Sperling who is completing her doctorate on examining the various pathogens that are found in the guts of Canadian ticks.
The articles and abstracts below have primarily been sourced from: PubMed.gov or the individual journals in which they were published. Please click the PubMed or journal link to read the whole article on their site.

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Recent in: Research

Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: An Overview with a Focus on a Specialty Psychiatrist’s Clinical Practice

Pulished August 25, 2018 Robert C Bransfield Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA Abstract   There is increasing evidence and recognition that Lyme borreliosis (LB) causes mental symptoms. This article draws from databases, search engines and clinical experience to review current information on LB. LB causes immune and metabolic effects that result in a Continues →

Far-Reaching Dispersal of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato-Infected Blacklegged Ticks by Migratory Songbirds in Canada

https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6030089 Abstract Lyme disease has been documented in northern areas of Canada, but the source of the etiological bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) has been in doubt. We collected 87 ticks from 44 songbirds during 2017, and 24 (39%) of 62 nymphs of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, were positive for Bbsl. We provide the first report of Bbsl-infected, songbird-transported I. scapularis in Cape Continues →

Borrelia burgdorferi adhere to blood vessels in the dura mater and are associated with increased meningeal T cells during murine disseminated borreliosis

Published: May 3, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196893 ABSTRACT Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is a vector-borne bacterial infection that is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. If not treated with antibiotics during the early stages of infection, disseminated infection can spread to the central nervous system (CNS). In non-human primates (NHPs) it has been demonstrated that the Continues →

What are implications for eastern Canada? – New York – Warning Issued After New Tick Species Discovered In Westchester

[CanLyme Note:  Ticks in New York state are only a short flight away aboard our migratory passerine birds ie robins, finches, wrens. who bring these ticks into Canada in the millions each year.] July 18th, 2018 State officials are warning New York residents, visitors and farmers about the continued importance of taking measures to protect against ticks, as a new tick species Continues →

Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of strains of the agent of Lyme disease Borrelia burgdorferi from Canadian emergence zones.

S. Tyler, et al  July 2018 Abstract Lyme disease is emerging in southern Canada due to range expansion of the tick vector, followed by invasion of the agent of Lyme disease Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. Strain diversity, as determined by Multi Locus Sequence Typing, occurs in this zone of emergence, and this may have its origins in adaptation to ecological Continues →

G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab at University of Guelph is looking for participants in study.

July 19th, 2018 Excellent work is being done at the University of Guelph and we at CanLyme encourage people to participate… “The University of Guelph is currently recruiting participants for a study jointly offered by researchers in the Department of Population Medicine, and the G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab. The study (REB # 18-05-008) will examine the interactions that Continues →

Are you a parent in Canada with a child struggling with Lyme disease? Canadian researchers want to hear from you!!

July 6th, 2018 Researchers at Mount Allison University are undertaking a research project which will explore the experiences of families with a child struggling with Lyme disease. They are looking for parents who have a child affected by Lyme disease to write a letter about their family’s experience.  If you are willing to participate in the study, the researchers will Continues →

Lyme disease in Saskatchewan ticks, and dog ticks can infect Borrelia miyamotoi.

The vast majority of ticks found in Saskatchewan are Dermacentor variabilis (American dog tick), a species not known to be a competent vector of typical Lyme borreliosis (Borrelia burrgdorferi s.l.) to humans.  However, recently Borrelia miyamotoi has been found in Canadian ticks coast to coast. Also, this from Manitoba, Saskatchewan’s next door neighbour. Borrelia miyamotoi causes similar disease in humans to Lyme borreliosis. Needing more Continues →

Human Babesiosis Caused by Babesia duncani Has Widespread Distribution across Canada

John D. Scott * and Catherine M. Scott  published May 17, 2018 Abstract   Human babesiosis caused by Babesia duncani is an emerging infectious disease in Canada. This malaria-like illness is brought about by a protozoan parasite infecting red blood cells. Currently, controversy surrounds which tick species are vectors of B. duncani. Since the availability of a serological or molecular test in Canada for B. duncani has been Continues →

Aggressiveness, violence, homicidality, homicide, and Lyme disease

Letter Published May 14th, 2018    https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S168751 I read with great interest the article by Bransfield,1 wherein the author reviewed potential contributors to and manifestations of heightened loss of control in Lyme disease patients. As a child psychiatrist living in a Lyme-endemic state, New Jersey, in the USA, I have seen a number of children and adolescents who exhibit significant acute Continues →

Pediatric stroke related to Lyme neuroborreliosis: Data from the Swiss NeuroPaediatric Stroke Registry and literature review.

Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2018 Jan;22(1):113-121 ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular complications of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) are poorly documented in the paediatric population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis from prospectively registered cases of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from the Swiss NeuroPaediatric Stroke Registry (SNPSR) from 2000 to 2015. Only cases with serologically confirmed LNB were included. In addition, a literature review on Continues →

Professional Self-Regulation and the Public Interest in Canada

[CanLyme Note: The Lyme disease disaster for Canadians is an excellent example of how the ‘self-regulating’ medical colleges and medical associations have woven themselves into the publicly funded health care system positioning themselves as the only experts, and policing any physicians who disagree with them, out of business.  No outside scientific expertise is allowed no matter how much harm is done Continues →

Do Microbes Trigger Alzheimer’s Disease?

[CanLyme Note:  Judith Miklossy, PhD, was a founding Board member of CanLyme in 2003 and remained until she moved back to her home in Switzerland from British Columbia in 2009. Her research ethics and standards are impeccable and well recognized.] By Jill U. Adams TheScientist In late 2011, Drexel University dermatology professor Herbert Allen was astounded to read a new research paper Continues →

History of Morgellons disease: from delusion to definition

Middelveen, et al   https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S152343 Abstract: Morgellons disease (MD) is a skin condition characterized by the presence of multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin. Although the condition may have a longer history, disease matching the above description was first reported in the US in 2002. Since that time, the condition that we know as MD has Continues →