Rare and deadly tick from East Asia inexplicably turns up in Arkansas
The Longhorned tick was found on a dog in Benton County, Arkansas recently
The tick, native to East Asia, has somehow managed to infiltrate the U.S. – and has also been spotted in New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia
In humans, the ticks can carry diseases such as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which can have a fatality rate of up to 30 per cent
But the ticks pose the greatest threat to livestock
Single animals with high Longhorned tick densities can experience stunted growth and anemia, and in rare cases, can be drained of so much blood they die
DAILYMAIL.COM
13 June 2018
A hardy, invasive species of tick that survived a New Jersey winter and subsequently traversed the mid-Atlantic has mysteriously arrived in Arkansas. No one is sure how the Longhorned tick, native to East Asia, arrived in the country, nor how it made its way to the middle of the continent.
The Arkansas Agriculture Department said late Monday researchers at Oklahoma State University had confirmed a tick found on a dog in Benton County in the far northwestern corner of the state was a Longhorned tick. Until then, the bug had only been reported in New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia.
‘It’s a mystery to a lot of people who are trying to figure out how exactly it got here,’ New Jersey Department of Agriculture spokesman Jeff Wolfe said Tuesday.
Like others of its kind, the Longhorned tick can carry diseases that pose a serious threat to humans and animals.
n humans, the ticks can carry diseases such as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which can have a fatality rate of up to 30 per cent.
Arkansas Department of Health entomologist David Theuret said it’s possible the ticks can also transmit other more local diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Both the New Jersey and the Arkansas departments of agriculture said they have received no reports of diseases in humans or animals caused by Longhorned ticks. Wolfe also said that so far, no ticks have tested positive for any diseases.
One major concern is the tick’s effect on livestock. The insects are aggressive biters, US Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Donna Karlsons said. Single animals with high Longhorned tick densities can experience stunted growth and anemia, and in rare cases, can be drained of so much blood they die, Theuret said.
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