Surveillance of ticks in Canada: Infographic 2019

Highlights from the 2019 report on blacklegged and western blacklegged ticks.

The risk from tick bites

• Most blacklegged ticks are found in central and eastern Canada
• Western blacklegged ticks are found in British Columbia
• Ticks get infected by feeding on an infected animal or bird
• Infected ticks can bite humans or animals and can spread diseases like Lyme disease, or less commonly:
  • anaplasmosis
  • babesiosis
  • Powassan virus disease

Type of tick surveillance used

Passive and active surveillance methods were used to collect data on ticks in Canada.

Passive surveillance:

• Ticks collected from people or pets that healthcare professionals, veterinarians or the public submit voluntarily

Active surveillance:

• Ticks collected from their natural habitat using field study methods such as dragging a piece of fabric along the ground (drag sampling)

Findings from passive surveillance

• 10,549 ticks were submitted in 10 provinces. No ticks were collected from the territories
• Infected ticks were found in 8 provinces
• 9,858 blacklegged ticks were found
  • About 1 in 5 ticks carried the bacteria that causes Lyme disease
  • About 1 in 70 ticks carried the bacteria that causes anaplasmosis
  • About 1 in 750 ticks carried the parasite that causes babesiosis
• 691 western blacklegged ticks were found
  • About 1 in 333 ticks carried the bacteria that causes Lyme disease

Seasonality of ticks

• Most blacklegged ticks were submitted from April to July and October to November
• Most western blacklegged ticks were submitted from March to June

Findings from active surveillance

• 184 sites visited in 10 provinces. No ticks were collected from the territories
• 1,166 ticks collected in 7 provinces
• Infected ticks found in 4 provinces
• 1,156 blacklegged ticks were found
  • About 1 in 4 ticks carried the bacteria that causes Lyme disease
  • About 1 in 30 ticks carried the bacteria that causes anaplasmosis
  • About 1 in 180 ticks carried the bacteria that causes Borrelia miyamotoi disease
  • About 1 in 700 ticks carried the virus that causes Powassan virus disease
• None of the 10 western blacklegged ticks collected were infected

How to prevent and protect from tick bites

To protect yourself from tick exposure, you can:

• cover exposed skin
• use insect repellent with DEET or Icaridin
• remove ticks using clean, fine-point tweezers
• do a full body check for ticks after being outside

To reduce your environmental risk:

• clear leaf litter
• keep lawns maintained

To protect your pets:

• check your pet for ticks after being outside