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Results of a Passive Tick Surveillance System in Alberta

Results of a Passive Tick Surveillance System in Alberta. Allison N Scott, Daniel Fitzgerald, Lisa Lachance, Kimberley Simmonds, and the Arthropod-Borne Diseases Committee (AABDC ) Government of Alberta 2014 Canadian Public Health Association Conference Toronto, Ontario May 29, 2014.

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Results of a Passive Tick Surveillance System in Alberta

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  1. Results of a Passive Tick Surveillance System in Alberta Allison N Scott, Daniel Fitzgerald, Lisa Lachance, Kimberley Simmonds, and the Arthropod-Borne Diseases Committee (AABDC) Government of Alberta 2014 Canadian Public Health Association Conference Toronto, Ontario May 29, 2014

  2. Collaborators The Arthropod-Borne Diseases Committee Alberta Health Services Lance Honish First Nations and Inuit Health Branch And Many More! Agriculture and Rural Development, GOA Rashed Cassis Daniel Fitzgerald Alberta Health, GOA Dean Blue Patti Kowalski Lisa Lachance Martin Lavoie Kimberley Simmonds Theresa St. Jean

  3. Outline • Ticks & Lyme Disease • Tick Surveillance Program in Alberta • Results • Discussion & Next Steps

  4. Ticks & Lyme Disease

  5. Lyme Disease • Borreliaburgdorferi • Vector: Ixodessppticks • Identified in 1976 in Lyme, Connecticut • Cluster of juvenile arthritis cases • Multi-system inflammatory disease • Early symptoms: Rash, headache, fever, fatigue • Can affect heart, joints, brain • Small number of patients can have pain, fatigue, or other symptoms chronically after treatment • Best if treated early http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrelia_burgdorferi http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html

  6. Can be difficult to diagnosis as the symptoms can be non-specific, especially if characteristic rash absent Knowing that the individual has been in an endemic area and exposed to ticks is important for diagnosis Lyme Disease – Key Point http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html

  7. Black-Legged Tick Carrier of Borreliaburgdorferi Feeding Insert mouthparts Several days Drop off Ixodesscapularis

  8. Endemic in the United States Establishing themselves in Eastern Canada Climate change: warm, mixed forest/grassland IxodessppTicks Ogden 2014 CCDR Volume 40-5

  9. One method of spread: migratory birds Flyway over Edmonton Key: Suitable habitat to overwinter/reproduce Adventitious Tick: Going where no Ixodeshas gone before birding.about.comodbirdingbasicsssNorth-America-Migration-Flyways.htm

  10. Tick Surveillance Program

  11. Objectives: • Determine if Ixodes ticks can be found in Alberta • Determine the percentage of Ixodesticks that carry Borreliaburgdorferi • Utilize geographic information to pick sites for active surveillance

  12. Passive Surveillance Humans and the Environment Companion Animals AHS Environmental Health Office Veterinarian Agriculture and Rural Development Lab Alberta Health

  13. Standardized lab methods Dichotomous identification key to speciate ticks Established PCR protocol utilized to identify Borreliaburgdorferi Descriptive statistics (SAS) Mapped postal code of residence (ARC GIS) Restricted to hosts that were Alberta residents and had not travelled in the previous 2 weeks. Finding nymph or larva would suggest a population capable of reproducing Methods

  14. Results

  15. Only adult Ixodesticks found from individuals who had not travelled Results

  16. 54% of Ixodes ticks submitted by Alberta residents with no travel history reside in Edmonton Zone Submitter’s Postal Code of Residence No travel in previous two weeks Results

  17. Results • Submitter’s Postal Code of Residence • No travel in previous two weeks

  18. Discussion & Next Steps

  19. Ixodes ticks found in Alberta Mostly in Edmonton Zone 20% of Ixodespositive for Borreliaburgdorferi Only adults found But more than one tick likely acquired in certain areas Discussion

  20. Active Surveillance Triggered * In the same location. The location is in the same town, city or geographic area not defined by a specific surface area size.

  21. Drag sampling 5 sites weekly, May-June 2014 If Ixodes found: Heightened Active Surveillance Likely include small mammal trapping Active Surveillance for Ticks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfKhopJNuj0

  22. Strengths and Limitations • Strengths: • Strong partnership between Alberta Agriculture, Alberta Health Services, and Alberta Health • Collaborating with municipalities • Limitations: • Residential postal codes, not locations • Unable to interview companion animal owners • Postal codes for companion animals currently only available for 2013 • Small sample size

  23. Active surveillance Changes to forms Enhanced information on outdoor locations pets/people had been in previous two weeks Continued passive surveillance Increase sample sizes Enhanced advertising for 2014 season Next Steps

  24. Questions? www.health.alberta.ca/health-info/lyme-disease

  25. Ixodesspp– Life cycle CDC

  26. Surveillance: “Systematic ongoing collection, collation, and analysis of data and the timely dissemination of information to those who need to know so that action can be taken.” Passive Surveillance and Active Surveillance Tick Surveillance Last, John M. 2001. A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 4th edition. Oxford University Press, Inc

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