Tick-borne Disease and Ticks

To help prevent tick bites, do the following:

• Wear light coloured clothing so ticks are easier to spot. 
• Keep covered with long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. 
• Wear closed footwear, socks, and tuck your pants into your socks. 
• Use a tick repellant that has “DEET” (follow the manufacturer’s directions). 
• Put a tick and flea collar on your pets, and check them for ticks periodically. 
• Search your body well for ticks after being in grass or bushy areas. Pay special attention to groin, scalp, and armpits. Use a mirror to check your back. 

To help discourage ticks from being on your property, do the following:

• Mow the lawn regularly. 
• Remove leaf litter, brush and weeds. 
• Keep tree branches and shrubs trimmed to let in more sunlight. 
• Move children’s swing sets and sandboxes away from the wooded or bushy edges of a play area.  Consider placing swing sets and sandboxes on a woodchip or mulch foundation. 
• Ticks often attach themselves to rodents, deer and birds. Keep rodents away by sealing stone walls and small openings around the yard. Use plants that do not attract deer or consider fencing to keep deer out of the yard. If you have a bird feeder keep it away from the house.

For more information on ticks in our area, call 1-800-830-5978 or email talkpublichealth@nwhu.on.ca. 

If you think you have found a black-legged tick on yourself, a family member, or a friend and would like to identify it, visit etick.ca​. If you have trouble accessing this service, please contact us for help.

How to remove a tick

Fast removal of ticks will help to prevent infection.

Follow these tips to remove ticks:

• Grasp the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible.
• Pull it straight out, gently but firmly.
• Don’t squeeze the tick.
• Don’t put anything on the tick or try to burn it off.
• Wash the area with soap and water once removed.

If the black-legged tick was attached for more than 24 hours, and from Kenora, Rainy River, or the areas surrounding these municipalities, consider visiting a health care provider within 72 hours of removing the tick.

The following are tick-borne diseases that you can find in our area.

Lyme disease

Lyme disease is an infection caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. These bacteria are spread by the bite of a black-legged (deer) tick. The black-legged tick is found throughout Ontario, including the Northwestern Health Unit region.

They are very small and hard to see. Not all black-legged (deer) ticks carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Ticks must be attached for at least 24 hours for transmission of the bacterium to occur and this is most likely if they have been attached for at least two days of feeding.

Symptoms of Lyme disease usually begin within three days to one month of being bit. The symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, and a skin rash that looks like a red bull’s eye.

Risk of Lyme disease

The risk of being bitten by a black-legged tick largely depends on the activities of the person. A person is more likely to be bitten by a black-legged tick if they are:

• Walking through a wooded or bushy area.
• Not wearing protective clothing.
• Not using an appropriate insect repellant.

​The risk of being bitten may be higher in Kenora, Rainy River, or the areas surrounding these municipalities where black-legged ticks have been repeatedly collected. Some of these ticks tested positive for carrying the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. If bitten, you can prevent the transmission of disease by removing the tick within 24 hours.

Diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease

If a black-legged tick was attached for more than 24 hours, and from Kenora, Rainy River, or the areas surrounding these municipalities, consider visiting a health care provider within 72 hours of removing the tick.

Anaplasmosis

Anaplasmosis is an infection caused by the bacteria Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Humans can become infected with this bacterium when they are bitten by an infected black-legged tick, also known as a deer tick. This type of tick is found throughout Ontario, including the Northwestern Health Unit region. Blacklegged ticks are very small and hard to see. Not all black-legged (deer) ticks carry the bacterium that causes Anaplasmosis.

Symptoms of Anaplasmosis usually begin within five days to three weeks of being bit. The symptoms include fever, headache, chills, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, and nausea. Less common symptoms include abdominal pain, vomiting, cough, and confusion. A rash is rarely noticed. Anaplasmosis is most often a mild and self-limiting illness. More serious infections and complications may occur in people who have weak immune systems or in older adults.

Risk of Anaplasmosis

The risk of getting Anaplasmosis depends on the risk of being bitten by a black-legged tick that can carry the bacteria for Anaplasmosis.

The risk of being bitten by any black-legged tick mainly depends on the activities of the person. A person is more likely to be bitten by a black-legged tick if walking through a wooded or bushy area and if not wearing protective clothing or using an appropriate insect repellant.

The fall of 2017 was the first year that a small number of ticks in Kenora and the surrounding area tested positive for the bacteria that causes Anaplasmosis. It is uncertain whether ticks will continue to test positive. Further tick surveillance is required to determine if this is an ongoing risk for this area. If bitten, the disease can be prevented by removing the tick within 12 to 24 hours.

Diagnosis and treatment of Anaplasmosis

Anaplasmosis is diagnosed by clinical signs and symptoms and blood testing. Early antibiotic treatment is recommended. If you have symptoms of Anaplasmosis, see your doctor.

Public health’s role in tick-borne diseases is to measure and evaluate risk. The health unit conducts active surveillance, tick dragging, in the spring and fall to track the migration of tick populations throughout our region and identify tick-borne diseases they are carrying.

Active tick surveillance (tick dragging)

We did not carry out any active surveillance activities between 2020-2022. We restarted active surveillance in 2023 with a spring and fall drag. In total, 171 deer ticks were collected and tested across 7 sites in the NWHU catchment area.  38.0% of submitted ticks tested positive for Lyme disease, 15.8% tested positive for anaplasmosis, 2.9% tested positive for Powassan virus, 2.9% tested positive for babesiosis disease, and 1.2% tested positive for Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD).

Active tick surveillance in NWHU’s catchment area, 2023

Note: The first number in each cell represents the number of ticks that tested positive for the respective disease. The second number in parentheses indicates the percentage of positive cases in relation to the total number of ticks collected from the specified location.

Active tick surveillance in the NWHU catchment area, 2019

Note: All sites in 2019 were in the Rainy River District
Note: The first number in each cell represents the number of ticks that tested positive for the respective disease. The second number in parentheses indicates the percentage of positive cases in relation to the total number of ticks collected from the specified location.

Active tick surveillance in NWHU’s catchment area, 2018

Note: The first number in each cell represents the number of ticks that tested positive for the respective disease. The second number in parentheses indicates the percentage of positive cases in relation to the total number of ticks collected from the specified location.

 Lyme disease in humans – northwestern Ontario​

As part of our 2023 infectious disease surveillance, there were zero (0) confirmed cases of Lyme disease infection reported in the NWHU area. In 2022, there were seven (7) confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported, an incidence rate of 8.6 cases per 100,000. Due to relatively small numbers, Lyme disease incidence fluctuates year to year in the area, with a general increasing trend in recent years consistent with provincial trends. Provincially in 2023, there were 1799 confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported, an incidence rate of 11.7 cases per 100,000¹.

Please note that not all cases of Lyme disease would be captured in this data as early detection of ticks, prompt treatment, and testing only when clinically indicated would not always result in laboratory confirmation of the disease.

¹Data Source: Public Health Ontario. ID Query. Date Extracted: May 14, 2024 

Lyme disease incidence, 2015-2023

Source. ID Query. Public Health Ontario. Date Extracted: May 14, 2024

Other tick-borne disease in humans – northwestern Ontario

On July 1, 2023 anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Powassan virus were added as Diseases of Public Health Significance (DoPHS).

As part of our 2023 infectious disease surveillance, there was one (1) confirmed case of anaplasmosis reported in the NWHU region, an incidence rate of 1.2 cases per 100,00, and zero (0) confirmed cases of babesiosis and Powassan virus infection reported. Provincially in 2023, there were seventeen (17) confirmed cases of anaplasmosis (0.1 per 100,000), eight (8) confirmed cases of babesiosis (0.1 per 100,000) and zero (0) confirmed cases of Powassan virus infection reported².

² Data Source: Public Health Ontario. ID Query. Date Extracted: May 14, 2024

Other tick-borne disease incidence for 2023

Source. ID Query. Public Health Ontario. Date Extracted: May 14, 2024