Tick donations key to unlocking Lyme disease answers: U of G researchers

It isn’t just woods and trails where people should be careful, as researchers say tick bites can happen right in their own backyard.

Ticks are expanding their presence across Canada, and researchers are trying to gather as much data as possible to better understand them and Lyme disease.

One of those researchers is Dr. Melanie Wills, director of the G. Magnotta Research Lab at the University of Guelph.

“We’re in the early stages of collecting a very large data set on human tick encounters,” said Dr. Wills while on The Mike Farwell Show on Thursday. “What we’re already seeing is that a lot of people who come to our program, they’re not deep in the bush and they’re not necessarily hunting or camping — they’re in their own backyards. They’re doing yard work, they’re walking their dogs… this is where they’re encountering ticks.”

Wills said an important part of their work is looking at the “whole picture,” including the ticks themselves, which are often discarded. Researchers think that data could be key to better understanding the disease.

“So why are some people more devastatingly affected than others?” Wills said. “Well, the answers to that might be in the types of strains of the Lyme disease pathogen that are being transmitted to them from those ticks.”

She said instances where people detach ticks and donate them to the lab are “immensely valuable” since usually, people don’t know they’ve been exposed until they develop symptoms and no longer have the ticks.

The study has already shown that people aren’t just encountering the usual small nymphal ticks, as some were walking around with adult ticks for several days before they were detected and removed, the researcher said.

Ticks from humans, pets, or livestock in Canada can be submitted for the study by completing this form or sending an email to gmlstudy@uoguelph.ca.