SaskatchewanA Prince Albert man has received a rare diagnosis of tick-borne Rocky Mountain spotted fever.Prince Albert man recovering after treatment for tick-borne illnessAlex Kozroski · CBC News · Posted: Sep 03, 2025 5:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoDon Haworth thinks he likely contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever from a tick at Emma Lake, where he is often active outdoors. (Submitted by Elyssa Leedahl)A man from Prince Albert got a unique diagnosis confirmed recently — a rare case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever.Don Haworth thinks he contracted the disease from a tick at Emma Lake, north of Prince Albert, where he is often active outdoors. Elyssa Leedahl, Haworth’s granddaughter and a psychiatric nurse, said she researched her grandfather’s symptoms and advocated for testing for the rare disease. “My grandpa woke up and he had these sudden symptoms, which were chills, achy, nausea, vomiting, fever and very lethargic,” said Leedahl. “By the third day, those symptoms had not improved. And he actually broke out into this red spotted rash that covered his entire body.”Leedahl said that her grandmother took him to hospital on June 16, where he was admitted. There, her family advocated for testing for Rocky Mountain spotted fever.The disease is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia ricketssii. It’s named for the fact that it was first identified in Rocky Mountain valleys of Idaho and Montana in the 1890s and for the red rash that develops two to four days after the fever begins. The rash can range from pinpoint dots to red splotches. This is what Don Haworth’s back looked like while he was in hospital, with the rash typical of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. (Submitted by Elyssa Leedahl)Treatment for Rocky Mountain spotted fever began after the first night Haworth spent in the hospital. A round of doxycycline, a common antibiotic, appeared to help. Haworth is doing better, but as of early September, he still has to go in for lab work three times a week to ensure he’s stable.”He started to get his appetite back,” Leedahl said. “He started to gain some weight that he had lost and he was back outside doing everything that he does, mowing lawns, golfing. So it was actually a pretty speedy recovery.”Typically, the disease is caused by tick bites from the American dog tick, which is found from eastern Alberta to Nova Scotia, especially in the southern parts of those provinces.Most people make a full recovery, but the disease can be deadly. Without treatment, one in four people dieProfessor Emily Jenkins, a professor in the department of veterinary microbiology at the University of Saskatchewan, said the bacteria that causes the disease is rare, but the vector is common.”The vast majority of people in Saskatchewan, if they have a tick on them, almost 99 per cent of them are going to be that American dog tick or Dermacentor variabilis, which is a competent host for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, unfortunately,” said Jenkins.She said Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a rare bacteria that often comes from ticks coming into contact with rodents.There have been a handful of known cases in Canada so far this year. Quebec has reported a case and the disease was also reported in dogs in Ontario earlier this year.”There’s been quite a bit of testing and actually finding the organism called Rickettsia rickettsii is quite rare, and we’re grateful,” said Jenkins.”There are sporadic cases in people and animals occasionally, but one of the reasons that pathogenic or the harmful bacterium is so rare in the ticks is that it has to compete with other bacteria which are actually harmless.”WATCH | Rocky Mountain spotted fever: what you need to know: Rocky Mountain spotted fever: what you need to knowQuebec has reported a case of the potentially deadly tick-borne disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch says the infection is rare but can be deadly. It is easily treatable with antibiotics, he says, but prevention is key. ABOUT THE AUTHORAlex Kozroski is a reporter with CBC News in Regina. He has also worked as a reporter for Golden West Broadcasting in Swift Current, Sask.
Rare case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever confirmed in Sask.
