September 17, 2013 - Lyme disease, a mysterious tick-borne illness, is the fastest spreading vector-borne disease in the United States, and over the past decade, the tick that carries Lyme has been spreading across Canada with alarming speed. On Thursday, October 10 at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT), CBC-TV's The Nature of Things premieres TICKED OFF: THE MYSTERY OF LYME DISEASE, a fascinating and eye-opening documentary that explores a disease that has devastating effects, is often misdiagnosed and mistreated, and continues to be mired in a medical controversy.

More than 30,000 cases are reported in the USA every year, but the real number could be as high as 300,000. And despite hard evidence that the Lyme-carrying, deer tick has already established populations across Canada, some people claim that patients here are still being told that they cannot contract Lyme in this country.

Doctors agree that if it's caught early Lyme disease can usually be cured with two to four weeks of antibiotics. There are others who believe that if it's not caught early, the infection can develop into a debilitating condition they call Chronic Lyme. Yet unlike West Nile, Encephalitis or SARS, where the medical profession and scientists joined forces to find better treatments or a cure, many patients, who claim to have chronic Lyme, say that they are being denied treatment and left to suffer. So why is this happening?

Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease tells the stories of Canadians who have experienced years of suffering, misdiagnosis and mistreatment and investigates the cause behind the current controversy that surrounds the disease. From the micro world of the tick and its disease-causing bacteria, to the macro world of human suffering and medical science, this documentary investigates the story behind this current medical mystery.       

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Ticked Off: The Mystery of Lyme Disease isproduced by Merit Motion Pictures in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund, with the financial investment of Manitoba Film & Music, and with the participation of the Government of Manitoba - Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit. It is produced by Erna Buffie (Smarty Plants, The Changing Sea, Recreating Eden) and directed by Ryszard Hunka (The Battle of the Bag; Love, Hate and Propaganda; The 8^th Fire).

Merit Motion Pictures is one of Canada's leading producers of factual entertainment programming. Founded by executive producer and industry veteran Merit Jensen Carr, Merit Motion Pictures is known for producing multi-platform programs that amaze, inform and delight. Recent highlights include the documentary specials Smarty Plants: Uncovering the Secret World of Plant Behaviour, Ballet High, and Conspiracy Rising, the multi-award winning CBC co-produced One Ocean series; TuTuMUCH, The Truth About Shoplifting, and Surviving The Teenage Brain. For more information, please visit: www.meritmotionpictures.com 

For photography please visit: www.cbc.ca/mediacentre

Media Contacts - To Request a Screener, to View Online or Arrange an Interview Please Contact:

Jennifer Jensen-Tracy, 226-387-4067, [email protected]

Christine Liber, 416-651-4722 x 1, [email protected]