Ticks carrying Lyme disease have rapidly spread across southern Canada. The disease is especially common in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. For active, outdoorsy people -- like many Canadians -- the risk of contracting Lyme rises the more time you spend in nature. Hikers, golfers, campers, hunters and dog-walkers all face the potential to be bitten by a tick and be infected with Lyme or another tick-borne disease. Despite the growing threat to public health in Canada, Lyme disease remains a controversial and poorly understood illness that can cause long-lasting problems. Usually cured when promptly treated, it often goes undiagnosed. Doctors have been slow to recognize it and its treatment is mired in controversy. Author Brian Owens looks at the conflicts that exist in recognizing, diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, and the failed human vaccine. He tells the stories of the politicians and patient advocates who have worked to raise awareness of the disease in Canada and covers the latest developments in science and medicine.
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