For the first time, Ottawa has been designated an at risk area for Lyme disease.

Ottawa Public Health says more than 20 percent of the ticks the city analyzed last year tested positive for Lyme disease.

This week marks the unofficial start of the gardening season.  It's also tick season; something gardeners need to keep in mind as they head into their back yards. Ticks are now being found in both naturalized and urban areas. For one woman with Lyme disease, it's a warning she advises people heed.

Lesley Fleming looks like she getting suited up to go into a crime scene, as she dons a disposable white painter’s suit and tapes plastic bags over her shoes.

The bad guys here though, aren't the two-legged variety but the eight-legged kind: deer ticks that can carry Lyme disease.

Lyme disease can cause a lifelong chronic illness that people don't recover from,” says Lesley Fleming, who runs a support group in Ottawa for people with Lyme disease, “There is no cure.”

Lesley Fleming should know.  She was diagnosed with Lyme disease 4 years ago and hasn't been able to work full time since. 

According to Ottawa Public Health, the number of cases of Lyme disease in Ottawa has jumped dramatically, from 7 in 2010 to 75 last year.  Ottawa is now considered an 'at risk' area after 20% of the ticks tested last year carried the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. And these ticks are no longer only in outlying areas of the city.

“I do know we've had ticks from all over the city; the east end, north end, south end, west end and people have to be aware, says Ann Stanton-Loucks with Ottawa Public Health, “They have to take precautions  and know they're there. We've even had people in suburban areas that backed on to forest areas that had ticks on their person after they did yard work.”

Ottawa Public Health says any residents who have found a tick attached to their skin for more than 24 hours (or is fully or partially engorged) should not wait for OPH testing of the tick before contacting their doctor. 

“Since Ottawa is now considered an at-risk area for Lyme disease, it’s important that any resident who finds a tick attached to them for more than 24 hours contact their doctor, who can determine if the person needs treatment with antibiotics,” says Ottawa Public Health.

That's why Lesley Fleming is doing tick dragging in parks like Andrew Haydon Park and along NCC trails in west end Ottawa, raising eyebrows for sure.

“That is concerning,” says Erin Kelly, who was visiting the park with her child, “especially with little children.”

Raising awareness, too.

“It's kind of scary to think how many ticks there are going to be this year,” says Susan Sullivan, in Andrew Haydon Park for a walk.

The key to protecting yourself is covering up in two ways: long sleeves, long pants and long, preferably white socks that have to go over your pants so the ticks can't crawl up.  The second way is some pretty powerful bug spray with DEET in it.

And check yourself after a day of hiking, golfing or gardening.

“Ticks especially like warm, moist areas like arm pits, the groin area, the back of knees, in your scalp,” says Fleming, “they could be anywhere.”

Several celebrities have stepped forward after testing positive for Lyme disease: singers Avril Lavigne and Shania Twain and actors Alec Baldwin and Ben Stiller.  They are high profile cases that raise an understanding of this illness.

There's a big event June 3rd on Parliament Hill about Lyme disease called Vocal for Voices of Canadians about Lyme.  It will feature celebrities with Lyme disease, researchers and doctors and include a demonstration of tick dragging.  The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m.