Verdun resident contracts Lyme disease without leaving island of Montreal

Erica Feininger said she hadn't left the island of Montreal in three months when she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in June.

When she spotted anangry red bump on her hip, she didn't think much of it.

But she eventually went to herCLSC, where she was advisedto go to the infectious diseases clinic at the Jewish General Hospital.

"Nine days after the bite, I woke up in the morning and my eye was fluttering. And by the end of the day my whole face, my whole half of my face was frozen," she said.

She went to the hospital and was told she had Lyme disease. After 15 days onantibiotics she said her symptoms subsided.

The Verdun resident told CBCthat she thinks that the tick thatbit her may have been living on her cat he like to snuggle up to her hip, where she discovered the bite.

Handful of cases contracted in Montreal

Lyme disease cases havesurged in Quebec this year, with the risk of catching the disease highest across theMontrgie and in the western part of the Eastern Townships.

The island of Montreal is typically safe from Lyme disease, but a few cases per year have been reported.

Montreal Public Health physician Nomie Savard said that in the past two years, there have been fewer than five cases of Lyme disease which were likely contracted on the island.

Savard said she thinks ticks are moving north because of climate change.

"They appreciate the fact that it's warmer for longer now," she said.

Prevention tips

Tick bites can happen in a wide range of settings in the great outdoors, including forests, tall grass, gardens near woodlands and shrubs.

Savard recommends that anyone going into into nature wear long pants and shirts that cover the skin. Alsotuck pants into socks and ifhiking, stick to the marked trails.

Apply mosquito repellent that contains DEET (20 to 30 per cent) or Icaridin (20 per cent). Other kinds of bug repellents won't be as effective.

At the end of the day, examine yourself for ticks their bites aren'tpainful, so you might not feel anythingwhen you're outdoors.

Feininger also says a quick, 30-second check for tick bites daily should be a part of everyone's routine.

"If a city woman like me can catch this, we need to start checking ourselves," she said.

Shenow checks her cat nicknamed "the tick monster" regularly as well.