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TORONTO — Ontario s top doctor expects to see a growing number of cases of three types of tick-borne illness in the province, in addition to Lyme disease — a spread he says is directly linked to climate change.
A new regulation that takes effect this weekend requires health-care providers in Ontario to report cases of anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Powassan virus to their local medical officers of health.
There have been anecdotal reports and publications about the three illnesses being found in Ontario in recent years, but the province now needs to start formally tracking them, said Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.
We can now count and track when these illnesses are occurring, map it for a risk map and be able to inform the public when these diseases become more prevalent, he said in an interview.
It s absolutely expected that we ll have greater incidence over the next several years because this is a known wave of infections that we ve seen migrate up the coastline of northeast North America and anticipate them affecting Ontarians.
Over the last 20 years there has been a rise in the incidence of Lyme disease as ticks, particularly black-legged ticks, are able to survive the winters, Moore said. The United States has seen waves of anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Powassan virus come after cases of Lyme disease, Moore said, and he expects to see that in Ontario as well.
It is simply from the ability of these ticks, that are now able to survive our winters and stay and breed over their two-year lifecycle, Moore said.
We ve seen them migrate from the mid-eastern United States and now that wave of migration we ve seen go through Connecticut and New York and these diseases are following in the footsteps of Lyme disease and we anticipate that we ll have more cases of these.
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