There is a difference of opinion about the accuracy of the test used by Manitoba Health to determine whether a person has Lyme disease. Marnie Le Page is with Manitoba lyme.com, a group of volunteers dedicated to spreading awareness about Lyme disease. She says a number of people are going to the U.S. and even Germany for testing because they don't believe the procedure in Manitoba is thorough.

The black-legged tick (left) that can carry Lyme disease is much smaller than a regular wood tick (right)."The problem is there are many tick-borne diseases beyond just the Lyme. We're testing for one strain of it here with Manitoba Health. But the ticks are actually carrying many different strains and the testing isn't sensitive enough, it's not catching it all stages of the progression of it."

Le Page adds they are working with the province to try and get improvements.

"We are talking to them constantly about it. We are also exploring new ideas and being open to a clinical diagnosis. That would be huge. If you can be clinically diagnosed without having to have a positive blood test, that would be extremely helpful for people."

But, Doctor Michael Routledge, Chief Medical Officer of Health for Southern Health, disagrees with Le Page on the competency of the test used in Manitoba.

"I know that concern has been out there for some time. What I can tell you about that is a lot of people have been working very hard on Lyme disease over the years and I'm very confident in the Lyme testing methodology we have in Manitoba."

Dr. Routledge says he also questions some of the positive tests that have come back from the U.S. for various reasons.

"We have seen cases where people who have had a negative test in Manitoba have gone to a laboratory in the United States and have had a positive test. You'd probably get different perspectives on the validity of those tests. I sometimes question the positives that come back from the United States but I'm very confident in the testing algorithms that we use in Manitoba."

Doctor Routledge notes southeastern Manitoba is one of the hot zones where there are ticks that carry Lyme disease. He urges people to take preventive measures to avoid tick bites but to get checked immediately if they think they have the disease.