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

• Published in: Canada communicable disease report 2020-10, Vol.46 (10), p.354-361
• Main Authors: Guillot, Camille, Badcock, Jackie, Clow, Katie, Cram, Jennifer, Dergousoff, Shaun, Dibernardo, Antonia, Evason, Michelle, Fraser, Erin, Galanis, Eleni, Gasmi, Salima, German, Greg J, Howse, Douglas T, Jardine, Claire, Jenkins, Emily, Koffi, Jules, Kulkarni, Manisha, Lindsay, L Robbin, Lumsden, Genevieve, McKay, Roman, Moore, Kieran, Morshed, Muhammad, Munn, Douglas, Nelder, Mark, Nocera, Joe, Ripoche, Marion, Rochon, Kateryn, Russell, Curtis, Slatculescu, Andreea, Talbot, Benoit, Thivierge, Karine, Voordouw, Maarten, Bouchard, Catherine, Leighton, Patrick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Arachnids; Babesia microti; Borrelia burgdorferi; Decision analysis; Environmental risk; Health risks; Infections; Laboratories; Lyme disease; Multiple criterion; Parasitic diseases; Pathogens; Public health; Regions; Risk; Sampling; Surveillance; Tick-borne diseases; Ticks; Vector-borne diseases; Viruses; Working groups; Zoonoses
• ISSN: 1188-4169; 1481-8531; 1481-8531
• DOI: 10.14745/ccdr.v46i10a08

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. To create a standardized, national sentinel surveillance network providing a real-time portrait of the evolving environmental risk of Lyme disease in each province. 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 spp. ticks were tested for infection with , , , and Powassan virus. In 2019, a total of 567 spp. ticks ( [n=550]; [n=10]; and [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 m ) were found in sentinel regions of Lunenburg (0.45), Montréal (0.43) and Granby (0.38). Overall, the prevalence in ticks was 25.2% (0%-45.0%). One nymph from British Columbia was positive for , a first for the province. The deer tick lineage of Powassan virus was detected in one adult in Nova Scotia. 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.