Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has announced up to $4 million in funding for research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.
Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May warns the disease is expected to spread to ever larger numbers of people. She points to what the Public Health Agency had to say, calling Lyme Disease the fastest growing infectious disease in the country with an estimate that there could be 10 thousand new cases by 2020.
Dr. Theresa Tam of the federal Public Health Agency says climate change is to blame in large part because the tick population increases with the warmer weather.
Philpott says there has to be greater awareness of the disease on the part of health care practitioners and the public at large with some people going to the U.S. for testing.
