Sentinel surveillance of Lyme disease risk in Canada, 2019: Results from the first year of the Canadian Lyme Sentinel Network (CaLSeN)

Camille Guillot; Jackie Badcock; Katie Clow; Jennifer Cram; Shaun Dergousoff; Antonia Dibernardo; Michelle Evason; Erin Fraser; Eleni Galanis; Salima Gasmi; Greg J German; Douglas T Howse; Claire Jardine; Emily Jenkins; Jules Koffi; Manisha Kulkarni; L Robbin Lindsay; Genevieve Lumsden; Roman McKay; Kieran Moore; Muhammad Morshed; Douglas Munn; Mark Nelder; Joe Nocera; Marion Ripoche; Kateryn Rochon; Curtis Russell; Andreea Slatculescu; Benoit Talbot; Karine Thivierge; Maarten Voordouw; Catherine Bouchard; Patrick Leighton

doi:10.14745/ccdr.v46i10a08

Sentinel surveillance of Lyme disease risk in Canada, 2019: Results from the first year of the Canadian Lyme Sentinel Network (CaLSeN)

Can Commun Dis Rep. 2020 Oct 1;46(10):354-361. doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v46i10a08.

Authors

Camille Guillot^{1

2}, Jackie Badcock³, Katie Clow⁴, Jennifer Cram⁵, Shaun Dergousoff⁶, Antonia Dibernardo⁷, Michelle Evason^{6

8}, Erin Fraser^{9

10}, Eleni Galanis¹¹, Salima Gasmi¹², Greg J German¹³, Douglas T Howse¹⁴, Claire Jardine⁶, Emily Jenkins¹³, Jules Koffi¹³, Manisha Kulkarni¹⁵, L Robbin Lindsay⁸, Genevieve Lumsden⁶, Roman McKay¹⁶, Kieran Moore¹⁶, Muhammad Morshed¹², Douglas Munn¹⁷, Mark Nelder¹⁸, Joe Nocera¹⁸, Marion Ripoche¹⁹, Kateryn Rochon²⁰, Curtis Russell¹⁹, Andreea Slatculescu¹⁶, Benoit Talbot¹⁶, Karine Thivierge²¹, Maarten Voordouw¹⁵, Catherine Bouchard^{1

22}, Patrick Leighton¹

Affiliations

¹ Département de pathologie et microbiologie, and Groupe de recherche en épidémiologie des zoonoses et santé publique (GREZOSP), Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC.
² Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC.
³ Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, New Brunswick Department of Health, Fredericton, NB.
⁴ Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON.
⁵ Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS.
⁶ Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Lethbridge, AB.
⁷ National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB.
⁸ Department of Companion Animals, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI.
⁹ Communicable Diseases & Immunization Service, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Victoria, BC.
¹⁰ School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
¹¹ Zoonotic Diseases and Emerging Pathogens, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC.
¹² Policy Integration and Zoonoses Division, Centre for Food-Borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC.
¹³ PEI Provincial Microbiology Laboratory, Health PEI, Charlottetown, PEI.
¹⁴ Department of Health and Community Services, Public Health Division, St. John's, NL.
¹⁵ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON.
¹⁶ KFL&A Public Health, Kingston, ON.
¹⁷ Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB.
¹⁸ Enteric, Zoonotic and Vector-Borne Diseases, Communicable Diseases, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, ON.
¹⁹ Surveillance, évaluation de risque et contrôle des maladies infectieuses, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montréal, QC.
²⁰ Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
²¹ Laboratoire de santé publique du Québec, Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC.
²² Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC.

Abstract

Background: Lyme disease is an emerging vector-borne zoonotic disease of increasing public health importance in Canada. As part of its mandate, the Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network (CLyDRN) launched a pan-Canadian sentinel surveillance initiative, the Canadian Lyme Sentinel Network (CaLSeN), in 2019.

Objectives: To create a standardized, national sentinel surveillance network providing a real-time portrait of the evolving environmental risk of Lyme disease in each province.

Methods: A multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach was used in the selection of sentinel regions. Within each sentinel region, a systematic drag sampling protocol was performed in selected sampling sites. Ticks collected during these active surveillance visits were identified to species, and Ixodes spp. ticks were tested for infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia miyamotoi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti and Powassan virus.

Results: In 2019, a total of 567 Ixodes spp. ticks (I. scapularis [n=550]; I. pacificus [n=10]; and I. angustus [n=7]) were collected in seven provinces: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The highest mean tick densities (nymphs/100 m²) were found in sentinel regions of Lunenburg (0.45), Montréal (0.43) and Granby (0.38). Overall, the Borrelia burgdorferi prevalence in ticks was 25.2% (0%-45.0%). One I. angustus nymph from British Columbia was positive for Babesia microti, a first for the province. The deer tick lineage of Powassan virus was detected in one adult I. scapularis in Nova Scotia.

Conclusion: CaLSeN provides the first coordinated national active surveillance initiative for tick-borne disease in Canada. Through multidisciplinary collaborations between experts in each province, the pilot year was successful in establishing a baseline for Lyme disease risk across the country, allowing future trends to be detected and studied.

Keywords: Borrelia; Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network (CLyDRN); Ixodes tick; Lyme disease; sentinel surveillance.