Mantha’s News from the Park : Lyme Disease Motion Passes
Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha
Thursday, November 27th, at Queen’s Park, I was joined by the Ontario Lyme Alliance and their national and regional counterparts to bring attention — and to deliver a call to action — on a serious public health policy matter. The issue is the alarming increase in Lyme disease. As a result, I decided to introduce a motion in the legislature to make Ontario the first Canadian province to establish a provincial strategy on Lyme disease. This afternoon the motion passed with all party support making Ontario the first province in Canada to take this step.
Lyme disease is a significant and growing health issue across our province. It is a tick-borne bacterial infection acquired by a tick bite. Ticks are closely related to the spider family and many of you may know them more commonly as deer ticks. Infected ticks feed on blood by attaching themselves to birds, animals and humans. When a tick carrying the bacteria bites one of us, we end up with Lyme disease.
Lyme-carrying ticks are on the rise across Canada, with the highest rates of human-acquired cases in Ontario. If left undiagnosed and untreated, Lyme can mimic other diseases like ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, and Lupus.
None of us are immune. Any one of us who has a pet, enjoys trail hiking, camping, hunting, golfing – any kind of outdoor fun – is at risk of Lyme disease.
Lack of public awareness puts all of us at risk of contracting Lyme. Outdated and incomplete information continues to circulate and dominate the discourse on Lyme. Ontario continues to rely on testing methods that Health Canada says are unreliable.
There is no blood test or other laboratory test available that will reliably detect a current Lyme infection. The technology exists, other countries and states are currently using it, but Ontarians have to travel abroad to get these tests.
My motion calls for the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to develop a comprehensive and integrated Lyme disease strategy for Ontario, consistent and integrated with the Action Plan on Lyme disease being developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The motion has the support of both the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation and the Ontario Lyme Alliance and the many people across the province who have been affected by Lyme.
As always, please feel free to contact my office about this issue or any other provincial matters. You can reach my constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ndp.on.ca or by phone at 705-461-9710/1-800-831-1899.
MPP Michael Mantha, Algoma-Manitoulin
