What You Need to Know About Lyme Disease

It’s all about recognizing the risk, early diagnosis and effective treatment

I think we’ve all heard of Lyme disease, since it’s been in the news and many people are concerned about their own and their families’ safety, but the issue was brought into sharp focus for me at a recent event in our community.

More on what I’ve learned about Lyme disease itself in a moment but first let me tell you about a remarkable effort being driven by one of our clients whom I’ve had the opportunity of getting to know over the last several years.

I recently had the pleasure of attending the annual Gabe Magnotta Memorial Golf Tournament, an inspiring event dedicated to advancing awareness and the fight against Lyme disease. It raised an impressive $70,000 in support of the G. Magnotta Foundation. (You can find more information on the Foundation’s work with the University of Guelph by clicking here.)

I’d like to thank Rossana Magnotta, both for the invitation to the tournament and for her incredible leadership and unwavering commitment to this important cause, a journey that began for her after a tragic personal experience with Lyme disease. Her passion continues to drive meaningful impact in the community.

After speaking with Rosanna, I reached out to our Ajax Member of Parliament, Jennifer McKelvie, and we have arranged a virtual meeting for the three of us to discuss ways the federal government may be able to help.

Now let me share some of the interesting things I’ve learned about Lyme disease, always bearing in mind that I’m neither an expert nor a doctor.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne bacterial infection in Canada. Ticks, which are tiny, spider-like creatures that live in forests, meadows, parkland and anywhere there is natural vegetation, can carry the bacteria (called Borrelia burgdorferi) that cause Lyme disease and transmit it to any warm-blooded animal they attack.
It is the black-legged tick in central and eastern Canada, and the western black-legged tick in British Columbia that carry the disease. They are sometimes referred to as “deer ticks,” since deer are one of their primary hosts. Click here for a link to see what they look like.
In Canada, there were over 28,000 cases of diagnosed Lyme disease between 2018 and 2025. Almost all were successfully treated but in a small percentage of cases the results can be catastrophic and even fatal.
The worst outcomes almost all relate to cases that were not diagnosed or treated early in the disease progression. Most cases can be successfully treated with antibiotics, although a small number of patients report lingering symptoms such as fatigue and pain even after successful antibiotic treatment.
Interestingly, a significant number of people, up to 20 percent from what I’ve read, never develop symptoms at all. Their immune systems defeat the infection.
Patients who do develop Lyme disease, days to weeks after a bite from an infected tick, experience fever, fatigue, headache and, often, a distinctive “bull’s-eye” rash that develops when a round area of skin inflammation fades from the middle, leaving a ring. Click here to see what such rashes look like. However, not all patients develop the rash.
Untreated Lyme disease can become progressively more and more serious, with symptoms involving the joints, the nervous system and the heart. These may result in arthritis, facial paralysis, irregular heartbeat and neurological issues. The most intractable cases, tragically, can result in disability and even death.
Reports of ticks, particularly in southern and eastern Ontario, have been rising sharply in recent years. Not all ticks carry the infection. Percentages vary from one location to another, but the numbers are high enough that experts say all tick bites should be regarded as potentially infected. There is an up-to-date tool for assessing risk that you can find here.
Ticks feed on blood from mammals, usually mice and deer in the wild but they will attach themselves to any warm-blooded creature they encounter, including dogs and humans. They actively hunt for prey, and they do it by basically lying in wait for an animal, or a person, to happen along. They do this by climbing up in tall grass or low-hanging leaves of bushes and trees, particularly in moist conditions of heavy dew or after rainfall. When a victim passes by, perhaps brushing against the grass or leaves, they jump or allow themselves to fall onto the passer-by. Then they crawl until they find exposed skin and proceed to attach themselves to the host.
The expert advice I’ve found on preventing tick bites all covers the same key points. Cover up with long pants, socks and long sleeved shirts or jackets. Use insect repellant on exposed areas. Avoid long grass and areas with overhanging bushes and leaves, especially in moist conditions.
After an outdoor adventure check for possible ticks, especially in areas of exposed skin on the scalp, neck or back and ankles. And, if you walk the dog, don’t forget to check for ticks.
Like many other blood-sucking creatures, ticks secrete substances that numb the area of the bite so that the host in unlikely to feel it and slap or scratch the affected area.
Once attached, they dig into the skin to feed and are often very difficult to remove. Simply scratching will often cause some of their body parts to remain in the skin.
There are several ways to safely and completely remove ticks and there are tick-removal tools you can buy that make the task easier. However, WebMD (and many other sites you can find quickly find) advise using rubbing alcohol and sharp-nosed tweezers. See one set of instructions here.
All of the sources I found say that it takes 24 to 36 hours for an infected tick to transmit the Lyme disease bacteria after biting. This means that removing a tick within a few hours of returning from a hike or day in the park should keep you safe.
I also found that there is an effective preventive treatment available if you discover a tick that has been attached for longer than a few hours, or if you are unsure of how long it’s been there. A family doctor, walk-in clinic or nurse practitioner can assess a patient to determine whether “post-exposure prophylaxis” is appropriate, and possible prescribe an antibiotic (doxycycline) to prevent onset of Lyme disease.
If you do remove a tick and decide to follow up with a healthcare provider, it’s a good idea to keep the tick, in a pill bottle or plastic baggie, and give it to the practitioner, who can send it to Public Health Ontario for testing and study.

So, I guess that the bottom line here is all about Lyme disease awareness. It starts with reasonable precautions: cover up in the outdoors, use repellants and check yourself and your kids and pets for ticks after an outing in nature. Seek medical advice if you discover and remover a tick long after an outing, or if you develop the symptoms of the disease. Remember that the disease is highly treatable – and the sooner it is diagnosed the better the outcome.

Finally, I’d like to thank Rosanna Magnotta again for all the work and dedication she is devoting to bringing this to public attention.

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I really appreciate comments, ideas, suggestions or just observations about the blog or any other topics in benefits management. I always look forward to hearing from readers. If there’s anything you want to share, please email me at bill@penmorebenefits.com.

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