Experts warn of ticks and Lyme disease dangers, which a Bear Canyon family knows all too well

Albertans should be on the lookout for ticks when outside. As a mom tells CTV, getting Lyme disease devastated her daughter's health.

It’s something Ashley Klassen never thought she’d have to deal with: a daughter suffering from Lyme disease.

Bentley Klassen, 7, was likely bitten by a tick in 2022 or 2023 near her home in Bear Canyon, Alta.

“She came to me and said, ‘Mummy, why is my body always in pain?’” said Ashley.

“This child sleeps 12 hours at night, she wakes up, she’s barely awake for two hours and she’s sleeping again.”

Bentley tested positive for Lyme disease in March 2025.

Ashley says Bentley’s body is so weak, and she hasn’t responded well to treatments.

The family is now fundraising to pay for specialized treatments in Mexico.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi and spreads through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks (deer ticks) and western blacklegged ticks.

Only about 10 per cent of ticks in Alberta are these types, according to experts.

“It takes a while to transmit, somewhere between 40 to 72 hours. You have to have a bite from the right tick. It has to feed for a longer period of time and it has to be one of those ticks that’s infected with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi,” said Dr. Daniel Gregson, infectious disease physician.

You may not notice a tick bite because ticks are small and their bites are usually painless, so it’s important to check yourself and others after being outdoors.

Gregson suggests wearing long-sleeved shirts and tucking pants into socks to prevent them from crawling up your leg.

“Stay on the path because it’s really rubbing up against brush where the tick is going to drop off onto you,” said Gregson.

Pet owners also need to take precautions with preventative medication or vaccines and physical checks.

“Talk to your veterinarian about tick prevention. If you are taking them to wooded areas, make sure that you are watching really closely for evidence of ticks. If you find a tick, promptly remove it and submit it so that we can continue with active surveillance,” said Dr. Lindsey Kurach, Alberta Veterinary Medical Association president.

Kurach notes she’s seen an increase in the number of ticks on pets this spring, though she’s not sure why.

You can remove a tick using tweezers.

If you have a tick, you can submit photos to etick.ca.

This community science project is gathering information about the geographic areas of the species.