Why Lunenburg County residents want to 'up the priority' on a Lyme disease vaccine

There's trouble in Paddy Lounsbury's paradise.

The Nova Scotia woman lives on a picturesque property just outside Mahone Bay that's surrounded by forest and has a view of the ocean. What worries her these days is what she can't see crawling in the grass and waiting in her pine trees.

Blacklegged ticks, which can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, are spreading across Nova Scotia. According to the Department of Health and Wellness, the number of reported cases more than doubled from 2014 to 2015. And as a resident of a higher risk area, Lounsbury says the tiny critters could soon have big implications for the province's economy.

"I think unless the authorities take action, we may be getting a reputation like Lyme, Conn., which gave its name to the disease," said Lounsbury.

"People who are thinking of moving here or starting a business here, which we really need to keep our economy alive, might just think twice."

Cases on the rise

There were 254 reported cases of Lyme disease in 2015, up from 115 in 2014, according to the health department's website. The numbers for 2016 have not yet been released.

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Lounsbury doesn't have Lyme disease, but she said she knows people who do. The anecdotal stories that get passed around in small South Shore communities feed into "a paranoia," she said, especially because there's little consensus on how best to prevent and treat the disease.

That's why Lounsbury wants the government to invest in research for a vaccine right now there's only one for pets and to better educate both residents and tourists about the risks they face here.

Nervous about outdoors

Jim Rosbe lives just down the road from Lounsbury. He agrees the provincial government and medical community need to "up the priority on this" but in the meantime, he's not taking any chances.

He's been treated for Lyme disease twice, and last fall spent more than $270 on Permethrin-drenched clothing from a company in the United States.

"It's expensive, but it's expensive to be sick too," he said.

"It also makes me nervous bringing grandchildren and having kids around. We have to watch like a hawk and I figure we'll have to get clothing for them, too, if they're going to be out running around."

'It was terrible'

Lisa Ali's 12-year-old son Darian contracted Lyme last spring, but he didn't show any symptoms. There was no telltale bull's-eye rash. Then, in September, his joints started to swell.

"It got to the point though where he had Lyme arthritis and he couldn't move his legs at all. It was terrible," said Ali.

That's when she became "obsessively aware of Lyme disease and ticks" an obsession that's become part of her role with the Mahone Bay and Area Tourism and Chamber of Commerce. She's also started her own company that makes tick-bite preventive sprays.

As a board member, she's working to educate tourists on what to watch out for so they don't have to find out the hard way like she did.

'Welcome to Lyme, don't get bitten'

The town of Lyme, Conn., doesn't need to do much advertising about the risks of the disease it's right there in the name.

For Ralph Eno, a municipal councillorinLyme, decades of dealing with the disease has given him "a perverted sense of humour about it."

"It keeps large-scale residential development away from us," he said, chuckling. "Welcome to Lyme, don't get bitten."

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Eno says by now, residents simply know how to cope.

"I just don't believe that we've been making significant headway, other than the fact that every time you turn around there seems to be a new tick-borne disease out there," he said.

Bad for business

As a resident of Lunenburg, Shelah Allen has dealt with ticks for years, as have her cats. But she's worried about the impact of linking Lunenburg to Lyme.

"Look what SARS did to Toronto, look what SARS did to all of Canada," she said.

Allen, who is the co-owner of Lunenburg Walking Tours, said she's never had a tourist ask about Lyme or ticks. While she walks outside most days in the summer, it's not often in tall grass or wooded areas where ticks are most prevalent.

And it's not just a problem for the South Shore. According to a map released by the Department of Health and Wellness in January, six counties are considered to be at a higher risk for Lyme disease. Six more are moderate, and six are considered lower risk.

"I know somebody who moved from this area to another area to get away from it, and yet now where they live, ticks have arrived," said Allen.

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