A rare tick is coming into Canada and it's already been spotted in Windsor-Essex.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit says the Lone Star tick represents 2% of the local tick population.
A silvery-white star-shaped spot or "lone star" present near the centre of its back is how the tick is identified.
Mark Nelder with Public Health Ontario told AM800's Kathie McMann climate change is causing the tick to move into Canada on the Afternoon News.
Nelder says the tick usually hitch's a ride on travelers from the southern United States.
"In Ontario it's still kind of a rare tick. We get thousands of ticks submitted every year for identification and in Ontario we get about 40 to 80 of these ticks per year," he says. "Still, it's out there and people should be aware."
The immune response to the tick's bite can be a steak lovers nightmare, according to Nelder.
"Down the road when you eat red meat, three to eight hours or even more, you can have quite a serious reaction that includes: itching, hives, nausea, vomiting, and in some cases anaphylaxis and breathing difficulty," he says.
Unlike many diseases spread by insects, Nelder says it's hard to track how many people have a reaction to the tick because it's an allergy.
"We don't have a good handle on it because unlike diseases that are reportable to public health, allergic reactions are not reported," he says. "A lot of these reactions are probably going under reported so we still don't know how prevalent the condition is."
Nelder says the Lone Star tick can only survive in the summer and should die off over the winter months, but a steady stream of travelers from the south may bring the tick back again.
— with files from Kathie McMann