News from Sudbury: Health Department Confirms Local Case of Lyme Disease

A local resident has tested positive for Lyme disease, Public Health Sudbury & Districts reported Thursday.

“This is the first locally acquired human case reported this year,” the health department said in a news release.

“Lyme disease occurs when someone is bitten by a tick carrying the bacteria.”

In Ontario, the black tick is known to transmit Lyme disease, but according to Public Health, not all black ticks carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

To stay safe, residents are advised to check for ticks after outdoor activities, such as gardening or walking.

“Other precautions you should take outdoors include avoiding tall and overgrown vegetation, wearing long-sleeved clothing that minimizes exposed skin, and using insect repellents containing DEET or Icaridin,” Jonathan Groulx, a health department manager, said in the news release.

If Lyme disease is caught early, it can be easily treated with antibiotics. Later stages of the disease may require more aggressive therapy.

The most common symptoms of Lyme disease are flu-like symptoms, such as headache, chills, joint pain, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, sore throat, and vomiting.

About two-thirds of people develop a rash at the site of the tick bite within three to thirty days. The rash often appears as a target that slowly spreads from the site of the bite over several days.

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Later stages of Lyme disease can cause arthritic, cardiac, and neurological complications. These symptoms can occur weeks, months, or even years after the initial symptoms disappear.

If you have been bitten by a tick and experience the symptoms mentioned above, you should contact your doctor.

If a tick is found in the skin, it is important not to crush or harm the tick. If you find an attached tick:

– Usage fine tip tweezers Grasp the tick close to the skin and gently pull it straight up.

– To wash the area with soap and water.

– If you find the tick on a human, you can put it in a dry container and take it to the GGD to determine whether it is a black-legged species of tick versus a type of tick that cannot transmit Lyme disease. Or,

– Send a photo of the tick to etick.ca to help determine what type of tick it is.

For more information about Lyme disease and ticks, call Public Health Sudbury & Districts at 705-522-9200, extension 464, call toll-free at 1-866-522-9200, or click here.