Bumping this for a new tick season!
In Ontario, this May we start on May 1st for another rally at the CN Tower with the sky lit in green for Lyme Awareness.
Tie a Ribbon Campaign - May 1 to 31 - people around the world will be tying green ribbons to trees, posts and fences to heighten awareness about Lyme disease. Ontario Lyme advocacy and support groups will be participating in this.
Friday, May 1st – 8 pm – Come and join us at the base of the CN Tower – wear green! Mike Mantha, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin, is going to come and mingle with us. We hope to have some other MPPs and Toronto City councillors joining us. And, there will be a TV crew and we hope some other media types will want to come and talk about Lyme, too. The CN Tower will be flooded in green for 8 minutes every hour on the hour from 9 pm on.
On Wednesday May 6th we are heading back to the Ontario Legislature for the morning. We need all Lyme disease patients, caregivers, and advocates to help bring about real change in the way that Lyme disease is tested, treated, and diagnosed in Ontario by coming to Queen's Park on May 6th to show that you support and want to see a provincial strategy for Lyme developed and implemented.
At Queen's Park last November, MPP Mike Mantha's motion - that asked the Minister of Health to develop a Lyme strategy - was tabled, debated, and then passed unanimously. It was really an amazing thing to watch, and we impressed upon the MPPs just how much public support there is in Ontario for this strategy by simply being in the gallery in force.
However, five months later, the Minister of Health has still not officially announced that he intends to follow through with the government's commitment to create and implement a Lyme strategy. He also has not yet stated that stakeholders like CanLyme, international researchers, veterinary associations, outdoor worker and patient groups will be at the table during the development process.
We are therefore heading back to Queen's Park on the morning of May 6th to push the government to fulfill their commitment to the promised strategy!
MPP Mike Mantha will be officially asking the Minister of Health during Question Period that morning what the Minister has done so far to develop a Lyme strategy. The Minister has been notified of this in advance. It is critical that the Minister and the other members of the House see once again that Ontarians are still very concerned about Lyme and that we are demanding change in the province.
If anyone in Ontario is reading this and is available and able to get to Toronto for May 6th, we need to absolutely fill the visitors' galleries with supporters to show the government that Ontarians consider this strategy a priority. All you need to do is to come to Queen's Park and bring some friends and family.
We will meet at Queen's Park at 9:30 am on Wednesday, May 6th, and the whole event should be over by 12:30 pm. This includes our gathering after the Question Period, when we will be tying green ribbons on the posts and trees outside the Legislature. Mike Mantha has also promised to join us on the front lawn and take part in the "Lyme Sucks Challenge"!
If you are able to join us, please send us an email at:
info@ontariolymealliance.ca
with your name and address so that you can be put on the list of attendees for Queen's Park security. We will also need the same information for any guests you will be bringing. You must RSVP before May 1st in order to be able to enter the House the morning of May 6th. We'll send you more details when we receive your RSVP! Hope you can be there!
On May 14th Public Health Ontario is running another PHO Grand Rounds this year. This is an event for public health professionals, but anyone can attend or join the webinar. (Not sure about people outside of Ontario). I will go mainly to see how they handle this and how badly skewed the information being presented is this year. If possible, I will also ask questions in the hopes of enlightening any public health professionals about the realities of Lyme and how and why prevention education, testing, diagnosis and treatment need to be improved. Anyone wanting to register for this can access the registration page from this link:
http://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/Le ... TleN9LBwUw
PHO Rounds: Lyme disease update: Epidemiology and initiatives
Thursday, May 14, 2015 12:00 pm to 01:00 pm
Location: 480 University Ave, Suite 300 Toronto, ON M5G 1V2 Boardroom 350
Information By Topic: Infectious Diseases; Laboratory Testing and Sciences
City: Toronto
Event Type: In Person; Webinar
Note: This is an open invitation, and may be forwarded to interested parties.
In recent years, Ontario has seen an expansion in the distribution of blacklegged ticks, which transmit the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that causes Lyme disease. This expansion has also been accompanied by an increase in human cases of Lyme disease. The presenters will focus on updated current tick and epidemiological trends, surveillance activities, the role of laboratory testing in diagnosis, and briefly discuss treatment options. This information will assist you in the public health management of Lyme disease.
Presenters: Curtis Russell and Samir Patel
Curtis Russell is a senior program specialist with the Enteric, Zoonotic, and Vector-Borne Diseases team at Public Health Ontario (PHO). In this role, Curtis provides expert advice and consultative services to Ontario's public heath units on vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease. He received his doctorate in biology from Brock University with a particular focus on mosquitoes and their potential to transmit West Nile virus to humans.
Samir Patel is an expert in vector-borne zoonotic diseases at the PHO Laboratories. He holds a doctorate in tropical diseases from the University of Toronto, where he also received his fellowship in clinical microbiology.
Public Health Ontario Grand Rounds are approved for continuing medical education from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.
PHO Grand Rounds are also approved by Council of Professional Experience for professional development hours (PDHs) for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI).
Last but not least, also being lit up in green for Lyme Awareness again this year are:
Niagara Peace Bridge - May 9, 2015
Niagara Falls - May 23, 2015.
