It seems every year we har about another disease that threatens our health. One of them happens to be a condition known as Lyme Disease. It’s cause by a bacterium known as Borrelia and it can have some pretty nasty symptoms including fever, fatigue, and joint pain. Worse, it may have the ability to stick around and cause people years of pains ranging from arthritis to neurological and even heart problems. As for how it’s spread, it comes from the bite of a tick. There’s been an explosion of cases over the last decade and in some areas of the country, ticks have replaced mosquitoes as public health enemy #1.

On this week’s show, we take a closer look at the bacterium behind the disease and how to help you stay safe. Our first guest is an expert on this bacterium behind this disease. His name is George Chaconas and he is a professor at the University of Calgary. For years, he was a Canada Research Chair on the condition formally known as Lyme Borreliosis. We explore how the infection progresses in the body and manages to escape our immune system. We also get into the potential for resistance and long-term effects on the body.

The bacterium is known as a spirochete, which means it looks like a corkscrew. This is similar to another bacterium that causes a more known illness, syphilis. We talk with Chaconas about the similarities between the two and how this may help us understand how we may be able to diagnose and possibly treat Lyme disease effectively.

In our SASS Class, we find out how to avoid Lyme Disease through prevention. We talk with Katie Clow, a veterinarian and assistant professor at the University of Guelph. She’s been studying how humans and pets can avoid getting bitten by a tick and shares her knowledge with us. Her tips will help you to stay safe when you’re out enjoying the grassy and wooded areas. If you enjoy The Super Awesome Science Show, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts and be sure to tell a friend about the show. Thanks to you, we’ve been nominated for a Canadian Podcast Award as Outstanding Science and Medicine Series. Let’s keep the awesome momentum going together! 

Twitter: @JATetroEmail: [email protected] Guests:

George ChaconasWeb: https://www.ucalgary.ca/bprg/chaconas Katie ClowWeb: https://katieclow.com/  Twitter: @KatieClow1

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