Epidemiology of Lyme disease in BC residents from 1997-2006

Lyme disease (LD) is a bacterial infection transmitted through the bite of infected ticks. This research sought to clean and reconcile the data held within three databases at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). The goal was to determine an accurate count of LD infections from 1997-2006. Through this process demographic characteristics would also be revealed. Capture-recapture (CR) methodology was applied to the data to in order to estimate the total, potential population and then finally the confirmed cases were overlaid against suspected ecological niches. This research indicated that 68 confirmed cases were reported in British Columbia. The majority of cases were male and <41 years of age. CR- methodology suggested that the total number of LD cases could be 137 (CI: 23 – 784) highlighting possible gaps in the existing surveillance and reporting structures. Finally, after overlaying confirmed cases against suspected ecological niches, there was 94% model accuracy.