With tick populations increasing rapidly throughout Canada, researchers have been advocating for increased surveillance and prevention of tick-borne disease. Nicholas Ogden from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) highlighted that tick surveillance has significantly increased over the past two decades. This increase in tick populations is matched by an increase in the number of Canadians with tick-borne diseases.
Ogden saw an increase in blacklegged ticks, the primary vectors for Lyme disease. This trend is even more pronounced in provinces like Quebec and Ontario. About one in four blacklegged ticks in these areas are infected with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. As millions more people get sick, public health officials again are calling on Americans to take steps to protect themselves.
Our experts have some easy strategies to reduce your chances of coming across a disease-carrying tick. Tuck your trousers into your socks, use insect repellents with DEET or Icaridin, and do tick checks after being outside. Wool socks are great, but Ogden conceded that tucking pants into them isn’t fashionable. He added that it’s by far the best method for preventing ticks from touching your skin.
Surveillance Efforts and Innovations
Ogden reported on tick surveillance efforts in Canada. These initiatives involve collecting images and samples from the general public, from veterinary professionals and healthcare workers. As of 2022, PHAC has conducted surveillance on tick populations from 331 sites in all ten provinces. Despite these efforts, Ogden told us that a more robust national surveillance program was needed.
Negar Elmieh, a scientist with the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, agreed with this advice. She stressed that a unified approach at all government levels is essential for effectively tracking and managing tick populations nationwide.
Elmieh proposed that strengthening surveillance for ticks across different regions would help in recognizing, understanding, and controlling tick-borne diseases. “There’s some of that going on in pockets of Canada, but there’s not a national system of comprehensive tick surveillance,” she stated.
Innovative Approaches to Tick Control
As part of this continuing research, Canada is using creative approaches to manage tick populations. In the U.S., we use a very special system that specifically targets deer with a “4-Poster treatment.” Set up deer feed around rollers covered in tick-killing chemicals. While the deer graze, the rollers spread pesticides that kill the ticks feeding on the deer.
Quebec is looking at doing the same as Quebec but targeting mice and other rodents, rather than deer. “So when a mouse goes in and eats one of those baits, it acquires a dose of acaricide, which gets onto the surface of the mouse and kills the ticks,” explained Ogden. However, he cautioned that such systems have not proven effective in every location, noting that “in some places, very few deer actually come to the feeders.”
Elmieh touched on the benefits of using hardscaping materials—such as concrete or gravel—in areas meant for people to gather outdoors. Collectively these materials can be very effective in deterring ticks. “Ticks don’t like hard surfaces,” she said. “Using [hardscaping] material for walkways and gathering areas is great because ticks don’t like to crawl on that.”
Growing Concern Over Tick-Borne Diseases
As tick populations continue to spread, so do the threats posed by tick-borne diseases. That’s an understatement, according to infectious diseases expert Dr. Gerald Evans of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He told the committee that this increase is in line with the increasing incidence of disease throughout Canada. He continued to stress the need for vigilance and prevention in order to ensure public health.
Ogden stressed that more research and monitoring is still needed to warn of tick behavior and distribution. “The studies that we’ve done suggest it still has a way to go,” he stated. “The ticks are still continuing to spread their geographic range.”
