Updated

Updated · The Weather Network · Jul 14

Canada Logs 500 Anaplasmosis Reports a Year as Tick Range Expands 35-55 Kilometres

Updated

Updated · The Weather Network · Jul 14

Canada Logs 500 Anaplasmosis Reports a Year as Tick Range Expands 35-55 Kilometres

Q: As tick-borne diseases surge in Canada, why was the national research network defunded this year?

It was not cut because the research was judged a failure. TickNet Canada lost federal support in March because its original CIHR funding was a time-limited program under the Federal Framework on Lyme Disease in Canada, and Ottawa says the network was expected to become self-sustaining after the initial $5 million grant ended. CIHR spokesperson Maxime Lê said the funding was designed as a temporary investment to build capacity, with the expectation that the network would develop a long-term sustainability plan. An independent evaluation reportedly found the network had produced strong results, and CIHR said it was pleased to see the work broaden from Lyme disease into a wider tick-borne disease effort. The problem, according to researchers and patient advocates, is that the funding ended even as the public-health threat worsened. They say the network effectively lost its staff, formal coordination role and ability to organize national research, leaving only an informal community of practice. That has raised concern that Canada is less prepared to coordinate surveillance, diagnostics and treatment research just as anaplasmosis, Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections are rising. So the defunding appears to have been an expiry of a fixed-term federal grant rather than a response to poor performance. Critics argue that, whatever the administrative reason, ending coordinated national funding now has left a gap at a time of growing need.

3 articles · Updated · The Weather Network · Jul 14

Anaplasmosis is now Canada's second most common tick-borne disease after Lyme, with about 500 reports annually in areas where infected ticks are established.
Blacklegged ticks are spreading across eastern and central Canada, moving north by 35 to 55 kilometres a year; about 6% tested in 2024 carried the bacteria, roughly double 2022's share.
A 79-year-old eastern Ontario man developed rare myocarditis after anaplasmosis was initially missed, but improved within 24 to 48 hours after doctors switched him to Doxycycline.
Doctors say the illness often looks like flu without Lyme's hallmark bull's-eye rash, and many patients never notice a tick bite, making early recognition harder.
Researchers say prompt treatment should not wait for lab confirmation because delays can raise risks to the heart, brain, lungs and kidneys, especially in older or chronically ill patients.