Re: “B.C. needs to move ahead on Lyme disease,” June 18, and “Health-care system very aware of Lyme disease,” June 20.
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall refers to “active and advanced tick testing.”
According to a presentation made by Dr. Muhammad Morshed of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, no tick surveillance has been done since 2007. Please point me to the research proving what strains of borrelia are present in B.C. ticks. Migratory birds have been shown in published studies to carry ticks from other areas where other strains have been detected. Is the CDC denying entry to these birds at the border?
The director and two other doctors resigned from the Complex Chronic Disease Program in the last month. Dr. Liz Zubek has been clear about the reasons for her resignation. There is no mandate whatsoever to treat patients with a bacterial infection.
This is a failure by our government to keep its promise to those with Lyme disease. We are not going to go away quietly. Our numbers and voices will continue to grow as this disease takes advantage of the warming climate and woeful ignorance.
If B.C. were truly interested in making strides with Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment, it would implement the recommendations of the government’s own Schmidt report, which states that “the current state of diagnostic methods for chronic Lyme and other related infections is inadequate” and calls for better diagnostic procedures and treatment guidelines. Anything less is hollow platitudes. My daughter and countless others deserve better.
Chris Powell
Saanich
