Improved diagnosis and prevention of Lyme disease may result from tracking Google searches for terms like “Lyme disease” and “ticks,” according to a new study by University of Guelph researchers.
Western black-legged tick, carrier of Lyme disease burrowed into horse's skin
Lyme Disease is the most reported vector-borne disease in the United States and is Canada's most common tick-borne illness in horses and humans.
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As the disease continues to spread in Canada, this first-ever study linking internet search activity with local infection rates may give public health units a tool to monitor that spread and warn people about Lyme hot spots, said Dr. Olaf Berke, a statistical epidemiology professor in the Department of Population Medicine in the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC).
“When people search online for a problem, chances are there is a problem,” he said. “If we know from Google Trends that in certain areas there are ticks, then physicians might take that into account in diagnosing infection.”
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by blacklegged ticks, which have moved into central and eastern Canada in recent years. It’s the most reported vector-borne disease in the United States and is Canada’s most common tick-borne illness.
Ticks’ northward spread believed to reflect climate change, urbanization
Reported cases in Canada increased to almost 1,500 in 2018 from about 150 in 2009, mostly in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Scientists have blamed the increase on everything from warming climate enabling ticks’ northward spread, to increased urbanization that brings people into closer contact with the organisms and their normal animal and bird hosts.
The team looked at reports of Lyme disease from 28 public health units in southern Ontario between 2015 and 2019. The researchers then compared that information with Google Trends data for the same regions and years.
They found that most infections occurred in eastern Ontario, between Prince Edward County and the Ontario-Quebec border. The same area showed more frequent internet searches for terms such as “Lyme disease,” “ticks” and “tick bites” than other parts of the province.
The study involved first author Maria Kutera, a fourth-year undergraduate student in biological science, and PhD candidate Kurtis Sobkowich. Their paper appeared recently in the journal Environmental Health Review.
Referring to Kutera’s mapping of trends, Berke said, “There was a signal for searches with Lyme diseases that overlapped with where people had been more often infected with Lyme disease.”
Read more about University of Guelph Lyme disease studies HERE.
Press release by University of Guelph News