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There are few Canadian health issues as emotionally charged as Lyme disease, with growing numbers of patients feeling abandoned by a health system playing catch up to a disease that was unheard of in decades past.

But there is one thing everyone agrees on: Lyme, the fastest growing infectious disease in Canada, is underreported and cases are set to explode. As many as 10,000 a year are predicted by 2020.

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“It’s worrisome,” said Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Gregory Taylor, on the eve of a national conference aimed at getting a handle on the scope of the problem and looking at ways to tackle it.

The Ottawa conference, which begins Sunday night at the Government Conference Centre, 111 Sussex Dr., with patients telling their stories, was borne out of a private member’s bill introduced by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, which became law in December 2014. The law calls for a federal framework on Lyme disease, focusing on better surveillance, best practices, education and awareness, and research.