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New Tick in U.S. Can Multiply by the Thousands on One Person or Animal, Spread Disease
In some parts of New Zealand and Australia, the Asian longhorned tick, which is native to eastern China, Japan, the Russian Far East, and Korea, has wiped out 25 percent of dairy cattle production, the CDC said. The tick first surfaced in the United States on New Jersey sheep in August last year. Since then, it's spread to 45 counties in the state and popped up on people, wildlife and pets in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Before the tick planted U.S. roots in 2017, customs officials had intercepted the tick at least 15 times on imported animals and materials at U.S. ports of entry. Since its discovery in the U.S., the tick has been reported 53 times on a variety of hosts; the ticks weren't checked for pathogens, though. In today's CDC Mortality and Morbidity Report, scientists warned that "where this tick exists, it is an important vector of human and animal disease agents" including hemorrhagic fever, spotted fever, and the Heartland and Powassan viruses. Researchers noted that data on the discovered ticks was too scant to "describe the actual extent or intensity of infestation." A female Asian longhorned tick can churn out up to 2,000 eggs at a time without mating, so "hundreds to thousands of ticks can be found on a single animal, person, or in the environment." "The full public health and agricultural impact of this tick discovery and spread is unknown," said Ben Beard, Ph.D., deputy director of CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. "In other parts of the world, the Asian longhorned tick can transmit many types of pathogens common in the United States. We are concerned that this tick, which can cause massive infestations on animals, on people, and in the environment, is spreading in the United States." Posted by: Besoeker 2018-12-01 |
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