Epidemiology of Lyme Disease, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2002-2013

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 21; no. 10; pp. 1751 - 1758
• Main Authors: Hatchette, Todd F, Johnston, B Lynn, Schleihauf, Emily, Mask, Angela, Haldane, David, Drebot, Michael, Baikie, Maureen, Cole, Teri J, Fleming, Sarah, Gould, Richard, Lindsay, Robbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01-10-2015; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Animals; Borrelia burgdorferi; Borrelia burgdorferi - isolation & purification; Canada; Child; Child, Preschool; Disease Vectors; Epidemiology; Epidemiology of Lyme Disease, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2002–2013; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Infant; Infection; Ixodes - parasitology; Ixodes - pathogenicity; Lyme disease; Lyme Disease - diagnosis; Lyme Disease - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Nova Scotia; Nova Scotia - epidemiology; Seroepidemiologic Studies; seroprevalence; Ticks; Nova Scotia; Canada; Canada; Lyme disease; epidemiology; Borrelia burgdorferi; vector-borne infections; Nova Scotia; ticks; seroprevalence
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid2110.141640

Ixodes scapularis ticks, which transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease (LD), are endemic to at least 6 regions of Nova Scotia, Canada. To assess the epidemiology and prevalence of LD in Nova Scotia, we analyzed data from 329 persons with LD reported in Nova Scotia during 2002-2013. Most patients reported symptoms of early localized infection with rash (89.7%), influenza-like illness (69.6%), or both; clinician-diagnosed erythema migrans was documented for 53.2%. In a separate serosurvey, of 1,855 serum samples screened for antibodies to B. burgdorferi, 2 were borderline positive (both with an indeterminate IgG on Western blot), resulting in an estimated seroprevalence of 0.14% (95% CI 0.02%-0.51%). Although LD incidence in Nova Scotia has risen sharply since 2002 and is the highest in Canada (16/100,000 population in 2013), the estimated number of residents with evidence of infection is low, and risk is localized to currently identified LD-endemic regions.