Lyme Disease and Ticks

Lyme disease is a potentially serious illness spread to humans by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick (also known as a deer tick). These ticks cannot fly, but settle on tall grasses and bushes until they attach themselves to a person or animal passing by.

The bacterium that causes Lyme disease has been found in blacklegged ticks throughout Ontario, including Huron County.

Learn how to avoid getting a tick bite. A tick must be attached and feeding for at least 24 hours before the tick will start to transmit the bacteria, so finding and removing any ticks early is important.

View data about blacklegged tick established risk areas, as well as other surveillance information and case trends, at the Ontario Vector-Borne Disease Tool from Public Health Ontario.

Tick identification

If you find a tick on yourself or a family member, take a photo of the tick after removing it and submit the photo to etick.ca for identification.

Talk to your healthcare provider or contact us if you have been in an area where ticks may live and you are experiencing symptoms of Lyme disease.

Information for Healthcare Providers

Accurate diagnosis and immediate treatment are key factors to the successful management of Lyme disease.

Learn more about the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease:

Clinical guidance | Health Quality Ontario
Lyme disease | Public Health Ontario
Lyme disease: For health professionals | Public Health Agency of Canada

Public Health Ontario (PHO) can provide serological testing when required.

PHO’s Vector-Borne Disease Tool provides comprehensive surveillance data on vector-borne diseases in Ontario. It includes trends in human cases and maps such as the Ontario Blacklegged Tick Established Risk Areas.

Huron Perth Public Health

Huron Office
77722B London Road, RR #5, Clinton, ON
N0M 1L0

Perth Office
653 West Gore St., Stratford ON N5A 1L4
Toll-free 1-888-221-2133
askhpph@hpph.ca