New strains of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease have been found in B.C., according to a recently published study on ticks collected from bird across Canada.

Researchers found the genetic makeup of three bacteria differed from previously known strains.

"In the ticks that we got from the West Coast, we found three new novel strains. This could be why Lyme disease patients are testing negative and they actually have one of these on-board and it's not showing up," said John D. Scott, author of the study published in the June issue of The Journal of Vector Ecology.

Scott is also a research consultant with the Lyme disease Association of Ontario.

But a co-author of the study disagrees.

Dr. Muhammad Morshed, a clinical professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of B.C, says Scott has reached the wrong conclusion from data he provided. Morshed's lab at UBC examined the tick-borne bacteria and identified the new strains, but says the genetic differences are not enough to throw off the current testing for Lyme disease. The blood tests look for elevated levels of antibodies that build up in reaction to all strains of the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause of the disease, he said.

"If you go through this paper you can see that we mention three new genotypes. They are a different strain, but they are not a totally different species. . . . They are the same species with a few mutations, so that will not hamper the diagnosis we are providing," says Morshed, who is also a senior scientist with laboratory services at the B.C Centre for Disease Control.

Humans can contract Lyme disease if they are bitten by a tick carrying the bacteria.

It causes flu like symptoms and joint pain if untreated.

Advocates for people who have contracted the disease in Canada say testing here is inadequate, leaving many patients waiting years before a proper diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics.

Jim Wilson of the Canadian Lyme disease Foundation recommends that people check themselves thoroughly for ticks when they come in from the outdoors.

"You don't have to stay out of the woods, you just have to know what's out there and how to prevent it," he said on the phone from the Okanagan community of Westbank.

Both Wilson and Scott, who lives in Fergus, Ont., contracted Lyme disease in Eastern Canada. They say the range of infected ticks across the country is generally underestimated.

Morshed also disputes that position. Soon-to-be published research from UBC, for instance, found that ticks collected in the Okanagan were not a species that can carry the disease, he said.

eellis@vancouversun.com