Lyme disease under-reported in New Brunswick say advocates for better care

Demonstrators, many of them dressed in limegreen, gathered in front of the legislature Tuesday, warning about the increasing number of cases of Lyme diseaseand the need to take the threat seriously.

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They're also calling fornew guidelines for the detection and treatment of the tick-borne disease.

Debbie McCannwiththeAtlanticLymeDisease Association, said infected ticks are growing in this province but cases of lyme diseaseare still vastly under-reported.

"Maine reported 1,400 confirmed cases in 2014, whereas New Brunswick confirmed five cases, sothat doesn't even make sense," she said.

McCann lives in Hoyt andsaid she was sick for three years before she was even diagnosed with the disease, a problem she blames on the medical community.

"Right now, it's an emerging disease that our medical community hasn't really caught up with ...the science on this."

Dr. Gregory Taylor, Canada's chief public health officer, said there were at least700 new cases of Lyme disease in Canada last yearcompared to around 100 in 2009.

Speaking at a national conference on the infection in Ottawa on Tuesday, Taylor expressed concern.

"It's complex and difficultand it's growing," he said.

Kelly Grant, who was at Tuesday's demonstration at the legislature, knows just how debilitating Lyme disease can become.

She said she was bitten by atick at Mactaquac Park in May of 2012 and her health went on a downward spiral with joint pain, extreme fatigue, headaches and even mental confusion. At one point she said she was in a wheelchair.

Grant was finally diagnosed by an American doctor and is now recovered, but she said it took a long time to get better and months of antibiotics.

"We need legislation saying, you know, that they [doctors] can prescribe long-term antibiotics. One or two antibiotics isn't going to do the trick."