April 3, 2007

Honorable George Abbott
Minister of Health
PO Box 9050
STN PROV GOVT
Victoria BC
V8W 9E2

Dear Honorable George Abbott,

Thank you for your letter of July 22, 2006 in which you replied on behalf of the Premier; stating that you are not going to start local research into Lyme disease because it is reported that there are only 3-5 cases of Lyme diagnosed in BC per year. The ministry is doing a disservice to Canadians by promoting these statistics without having the research to justify the numbers. Doctors use these statistics; overlooking Lyme as a differential cause of infection. I am one who has been damaged by a doctor who used similar information to misdiagnose me.

Doctors need more accurate testing for this infection. My research indicates that when our local hares died, their ticks vectored infection that was spread by migratory birds. Small mammals and ticks need to be collected and tested to find out what really did happen to the hares. Here is a perfect chance to find out what diseases our small mammals carry. You cannot continue to maintain that Lyme is rare in BC and not have the unbiased research of good science to back up your claim.

I have spent twenty years trying to understand what happened to the hares in my region. The only event I can find that fits the time frame of the local small mammal decline is a local outbreak of Brucellosis. The hares and their tick, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris are highly susceptible to Brucellosis. Only scientists can tell us if Brucellosis came from the cattle or by way of ticks from the northern wood bison, Alaskan reindeer, or elk and bison to the south. These animals along with Lyme, Brucellosis, ticks and migratory birds have been around for a long time, but our small mammals have never seen this historic low, so something must have changed. As this happened so fast, I can only speculate that man was involved, perhaps a vaccine administered to the ungulates was involved?

I agree that Ixodes angustus has not had local numbers in the past to cause a local outbreak of Lyme symptoms as I saw happen in the mid 80's. We do have Ornithodorus hermsi that has not been well studied but should be for the transmittance of Lyme borreliosis. Rural residents are in the high-risk group for this infection. This is a tick that can feed in minutes while the unfortunate individual is sleeping.

We need extensive research into diseases carried by our small mammals. This is a major project that many need to work together to solve. If we scientifically understand what happened to our local hares, we will better understand the infection that has symptoms of Lyme borreliosis. Borreliosis can cause any symptom and any disease (from a doctor's website). Our hares and small mammals are our canaries; we must understand what happened to them in order to better realize the infections we share with nature.

Sincerely,

Ron Gerhardi

I have sent a copy to the NIH in Hamilton, Montana, with whom we share a Pacific flyway with tick-borne disease; it appears they may share a similar problem.

I have taken the liberty of posting this on the BC Lyme information site under "Research". Google lymeinbc

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