Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Wed. May 29th, 2024

The number of Lyme Disease cases in Ontario is higher than normal this time of year. This grim reality is largely due to a higher number of tick sightings across the province. In the first 5 months of 2024, over 1,100 blacklegged ticks have been identified, with over 600 of them being discovered on human skin. For reference, heading into June of 2019, just over 120 sightings had been reported by eTick. And to make matters worse, this breed is also the most likely to transmit Lyme Disease. Kristy Cameron chats with Justin Wood, the creator of Canada’s first private lab that tests ticks for tick-borne diseases. Meantime, if you take public transit in our city, you know that the ride isn’t always smooth sailing. But if you want to pay through credit cards, that part is about to become easier, as OC Transpo buses and trains will now be accepting debit payments.