Toronto Public Health says that there has been an increase in the number of cases of Lyme disease acquired in the Rouge Valley area this summer.
In a news release issued Friday, the public health agency said that they have noticed an uptick in cases in which the patients contracted the disease from a bug bite sustained in the Rouge Valley.
Given the rise in cases, the agency said that it is important to remind residents to “take precautions during outdoor recreational activities or while doing yard work in bushy or wooded areas.”
Those precautions include using insect repellant containing DEET or icaridin and wearing light-coloured clothing that may make ticks easier to spot.
"Avoiding tick bites and getting early treatment can prevent serious illness from Lyme disease," Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said in the news release.
Transmission of Lyme disease usually only occurs after a blacklegged tick has been attached to somebody for at least 24 hours.
For that reason, Toronto Public Health advises residents to check their full body and head for attached ticks after leaving any wooded area.
The blacklegged tick that carry Lyme-disease-causing bacteria are most commonly found in the Rouge Valley area, Highland Creek Park, Morningside Park and Algonquin Island.
Symptoms of Lyme disease include a fever and chills, headaches, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, a stiff neck, and a circular rash, also known as a bull’s eye rash.
Symptoms usually occur within one to two weeks of a tick bite but can take as long as a month or as little as three days to surface.
"Through our surveillance programs, we monitor tick populations in the city," de Villa said in the press release. "We post signs in areas where we know ticks are regularly found, inform the public of ways to prevent tick bites and alert health care providers of where ticks are regularly found and provide them with information on how to diagnose and treat Lyme disease."
