A spokesperson for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) says federal funding should provide positive outcomes for those living with Lyme Disease in southern Manitoba.

Marc Ouellette is Scientific Director of the Institute of Infection and Immunity for CIHR. He says the government of Canada has decided to invest $4 million to fund a network on Lyme Disease. This is a collaboration between the Public Health Agency of Canada and CIHR.

Ouellette explains one of the main strategies is to first bring people together so that there is consensus on how to move forward. He notes the main part of this investment will be to build a network of investigators working on Lyme Disease that will constitute a cohort. They will be involved in capacity building and training to have people better handle and recognize Lyme Disease.

"The ultimate goal is to have a better patient outcome and care for the people suffering of Lyme Disease," explains Ouellette.

According to the Director, the intent is for this to provide assistance right across the country. He expects that every part of Canada impacted by Lyme Disease will be represented and that there will be potential outcomes for each of those regions.

"It's going to be the people that will be part of the network that will determine where they will have focus," Ouellette says. "I don't see why there will not be positive outcomes for the people living in southern Manitoba."

According to Ouellette, Lyme Disease is an emerging infection and incidents in Canada are on the rise. The tick which transmits the disease has moved from the United States into Canada, due in part to climate change, says the Director. He notes because ticks can now live through our winter, Canada has jumped from dozens of cases of Lyme Disease a decade ago to several hundreds of cases being reported annually. The United States has many more.

Ouellette notes southern Manitoba is certainly on the map for where cases are popping up. In fact, he says it is the southern portion of many provinces, including the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba.

"These are where there are highest cases of incidents of Lyme Disease so far," he says. "It's from east coast to west coast."

Ouellette says this funding announcement is great news and says through excellence in research they will arrive at strategies to better tackle the emerging disease.