“It’s real. The tick infestation is real, it’s here, and we have to take action.”
That from Minister of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Rick Doucet, who was speaking at the Ganong Nature Park, a well-known area for tick infestations in Charlotte County.
Doucet announcing the Public Agency of Canada will provide $69,000 over two years to the Provincial Department of Health, in order to study the geographic range of tick populations.
“Lyme disease is an emerging illness in New Brunswick, and across Canada. Although most ticks in New Brunswick do not carry the disease, infected black-legged ticks have been found throughout the province.”
Tick surveillance will be conducted in the most high risk areas of the province that have already been identified, which are heavily situated in the South-western region. St. Stephen, Saint Andrews, St. George, Grand Manan Island, Saint John, Quispamsis, Grand Bay-Westfield, and Rothesay are the most high risk areas in the province for tick populations.
