Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Is it MS, Lupus or immune system dysfunction? Doctors were left puzzled by Audrey Skoog’s rapidly deteriorating health. This led to specialist after specialist as well as referrals out of country and out of province. When diagnosis came, she found herself with late stage Lyme disease otherwise known as disseminated Lyme disease; this stage occurs months or even years after a tick bite, when the infection is not appropriately treated in the first or second stages. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and rarely, Borrelia mayonii. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical early symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system as well as cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Each year, approximately 30,000 new cases of Lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)