Lyme disease tick found in NWT (on a dog that just got here)

A tick carrying the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease has been found in the Northwest Territories, the NWT’s chief public health officer says.

Though common elsewhere, the types of tick that carry Lyme disease are a rarity in the territory. As a result, Lyme disease has been all but non-existent as a threat to NWT residents.

However, Dr Kami Kandola’s office says an adult female black-legged tick carrying bacteria responsible for Lyme disease was found on a pet dog in Fort Simpson on October 2.

The dog had “recently arrived from an endemic southern province,” Dr Kandola’s office stated in a Thursday advisory. “The subsequent positive test was reported to our office in December. It is unclear whether this was locally acquired.”

The territory says this is the first time a tick carrying this bacterium has been found in the NWT.

While the circumstances suggest the dog’s time spent elsewhere may be a factor, the GNWT nonetheless issued a series of recommendations for residents, warning that Lyme disease can cause fatigue, muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes and a skin rash.

No human case of locally occurring Lyme disease has ever been reported in the NWT, Kandola’s office stated. Even so, she recommended that residents take precautions outside the territory and use the eTick app to identify ticks quickly.

“The Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Environment and
Climate Change have surveillance systems to monitor all types of ticks in the NWT that
are uncommon or can cause Lyme disease,” the territory added.