Health & Fitness New Tick Species That Lays 2,000 Eggs Found In Maryland A new tick species has been found in Maryland. It gorges on so much blood it kills itself, and lays up to 2,000 eggs at one time. Reply BALTIMORE, MD – An Asian tick capable of reproducing at remarkable speed and gorging on so much blood that it kills itself has been found in Maryland. It's the first new species of tick to be found in the United States in 50 years, the New York Times reports. The longhorned tick was first found on a white-tailed deer in Washington County in June and was confirmed on July 27, state health officials said. The long-horned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, was first seen in the U.S. infesting the ear of a sheep in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and has since been found in many suburban areas surrounding New York City, the report said. On Tuesday, the Maryland Department of Health said the longhorned tick has been found in eight states — New Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania and now Maryland. Experts say the longhorned ticks found in the United States — including the tick confirmed in Maryland and those in Virginia — have not been found to carry infectious pathogens. "In order to keep livestock and pets safe, we encourage owners to check their animals for a high concentration of tick bites or abnormal ticks," said the Maryland Department of Agriculture's State Veterinarian Dr. Michael Radebaugh. "This species of ticks are known to cling to hosts in high numbers. If too many of these ticks attach themselves to an animal, it could cause stunted growth, decreased production, major blood loss, and has the potential to spread diseases." (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.) In Asia, the species carries a virus that is fatal for 15 percent of its victims. No human disease has yet been found in the insects discovered in the U.S, though health experts told the New York Times they are concerned. Female long-horned ticks can lay 800 to 2,000 fertile eggs at one time without mating once it feeds on a host, the health department says. The longhorned tick — also called the bush tick — feeds on livestock, poultry, wild birds, pets, small mammals and humans. "The discovery of the longhorn tick in Maryland reinforces the need of residents to practice tick prevention methods," said state Health Services Deputy Secretary Dr. Howard Haft in a news release. "Avoiding wooded and brushy areas, wearing long pants and long sleeves, using repellant, and performing tick checks after being outside will all help prevent tickborne diseases." This tick species is easily mistaken for other common ticks found in Maryland. Hard to see with the naked eye, the brown-colored tick has distinctive "horns" that can be viewed under a microscope.<doc-sep>First detected in New Jersey last year, this invasive tick species is "an important vector of human and animal disease agents," according to the CDC. The Asian Longhorned Tick Has Now Been Found in 8 States, Says a New CDC Report. Here's What You Need to Know The Asian longhorned tick is an invasive tick species that has recently spread to eight states across the United States and threatens to transmit several serious diseases to people, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned in a new report on Thursday. The tick is "an important vector of human and animal disease agents," states the CDC report. Native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East, the Asian longhorned tick had never previously been detected in the U.S. before. That changed in August 2017, when a a sheep in New Jersey was found to be infested with them. Since then, 53 reports of the tick have been confirmed in seven more states through September 2018: Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas. The Asian longhorned tick has been found on both people and animals, according to the CDC report. On the positive side, the CDC report states that there's no evidence the Asian longhorned tick has transmitted disease to humans or animals in the U.S. But in Asia, it is known to carry a dangerous virus that kills 15% of the people it bites. The tick has spread in recent years to Australia, New Zealand, several Pacific islands, and now to America. An invasive tick species surely sounds like something out of a horror film, especially given the explosion of tick populations and tick-borne diseases here in the States in recent years. But before you start freaking out about this specific critter, known to scientists as Haemaphysalis longicornis, let’s put a few things into perspective. “People should not extrapolate that just because this tick carries a potentially serious virus in the Far East, that next year everyone here will have that same disease,” John Aucott, MD, director of the Lyme Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, previously told Health. "We don't want to connect dots that may never be connected in real life." “We certainly don’t want it spreading all over the country, which is why public health officials should definitely be paying attention to this,” Dr. Aucott said. “But for the general public, there are a lot more important things—both having to do with tick-borne illnesses and other things—that should be of greater concern.” One of those things is the “very real epidemic” of diseases being spread by ticks native to the United States. “Instead of focusing on the theoretical risk of some exotic imported tick species,” he said, “people should be paying more attention to actually protecting themselves from these much bigger threats.” Deer ticks, for example (also known as blacklegged ticks), can spread Lyme disease, Powassan virus, and anaplasmosis, among other infections; they can also cause tick paralysis. Their numbers are on the rise throughout the United States, as are the diseases they carry. According to a recent report from lab-testing service Quest Diagnostics, Lyme disease rates have skyrocketed in recent years. Positive test results have now been reported in all 50 states as well as Washington D.C., and several states reported sharp increases in positive test results between 2015 and 2017. That specific report may not offer the most scientifically reliable data, said Dr. Aucott: It hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, it’s based only on tests done by Quest Diagnostics and not by other facilities, and it can only show what state people were in when they tested positive for Lyme disease bacteria—not where they actually were when they were infected. But in general, he said, the data is in line with other research. “It’s true that Lyme disease has been spreading relentlessly since the 1970s and that it has spread dramatically on the East Coast and in the Upper Midwest especially,” he said. Other conditions spread by different types of native ticks—like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and alpha-gal syndrome (which involves a sudden allergy to red meat)—have also seen increases in recent years. These are the truly scary statistics, said Dr. Aucott, and the real reason people need to be vigilant about ticks that might be lurking in their yards and in nearby grasses and forests. “We’ve gotten across to people the importance of wearing a seatbelt and not drinking and driving, but we haven’t yet gotten the message across that tick-bite prevention is something that people should take just as seriously,” he said.<doc-sep>STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There's a new invasive tick species spreading across the United States, and it has now been discovered in the southern section of Staten Island. The Asian longhorned tick, or haemaphysalis longicornis, is a recently recognized invasive species usually found in areas of east Asia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The single tick found is the first of the species to be spotted in New York City, according to the city Department of Health (DOH). From 2012 to 2016, Staten Island saw a 250 percent rise in cases of Lyme disease - the sharpest jump in the disease of the five boroughs over the last five years, according to data the Advance compiled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Here's what you need to know about the Asian longhorned tick. DOESN'T TRANSMIT DISEASES Tests on the ticks found in the United States show they aren't positive for any foreign or local germ or diseases, according to Dr. Thomas Mather, a professor of public health entomology and director of the TickEncounter Resource Center at the University of Rhode Island. "While it has been reported that the longhorned tick has transmitted disease to humans in other parts of the world such as China, it has not been shown to transmit diseases in the United States," said Dr. Mary T. Bassett, health commissioner for the DOH. Both the DOH and Mather said the ticks favor livestock, wild animals and dogs. But residents should continue to take precautions, Mather said. Staten Islanders should continue to follow procedures to prevent tick bites and tick-borne diseases, and use effective tick-repellent products. "They could still be a threat," he said. "Just because we have found out this information, we don't know the whole scope and scale of what is happening and what could happen." The tick expert explained that the CDC is beginning to make a colony of the Asian longhorned ticks to document their "vector competence testing." During testing, the CDC places ticks on animal hosts to learn if the tick is capable of becoming infected and transmitting the germ or disease. RECENTLY IDENTIFIED While this tick has been recently identified, Mather said the presence of the longhorned tick can be traced back to 2010. "It may have been here a lot longer than we thought and we didn't look for it or misidentified it," Mather said. He explained that the tick could have been mistaken as a rabbit tick, which looks similar to the longhorned tick. He credited the recent recognition of the species to the increased tick awareness and tick-borne diseases in the last five years. More people are sending photos of ticks to the program to help identify ticks and determine if they carry a disease. The program also tracks how many ticks have been reported in different locations. CITY TACKLES TICK PROBLEM The DOH identified the Asian longhorned tick species and worked with Rutgers University Center for Vector Biology to confirm the identification. "As more research is done, the department will continue to aggressively monitor and control ticks on Staten Island and throughout the city and urge all New Yorkers to take the necessary precautions against tick bites," Bassett said. Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city's plan to increase spending by $600,000 annually to tackle the tick problem on Staten Island. The mayor called the future efforts the most "aggressive tick control policy of the history of New York City." The efforts include disinfecting mice, stepping up tick surveillance at city parks and doubling the number of surveillance sites on Staten Island from 14 to 28. The most prevalent tick in New York is the blacklegged or deer tick in the nymph stage -- the stage just before a tick becomes an adult. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.<doc-sep>
A tick species that's native to Asia has now spread to the United States, and it's popping up in numerous places along the East Coast, according to U.S. officials. The newfound tick, known as the longhorned tick or Haemaphysalis longicornis, was first identified in the U.S. last year, when it was found on a sheep in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Now, it's spread to six other states: New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and, most recently, Pennsylvania. "The discovery of the longhorn tick [here] is another reminder of the importance of tick prevention," Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of health for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said in a statement on July 31. [10 Bizarre Diseases You Can Get Outdoors] Here are five facts about longhorned ticks: Females can reproduce asexually and lay thousands of eggs. Female longhorned ticks don't need a male to reproduce. They can spawn asexually using a process known as parthenogenesis. After feeding, a single female can lay around 2,000 eggs, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. That's enough to establish a tick population in a new location, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says. They suck so much blood, it can cause anemia, or even death, in livestock. Due to these large numbers, longhorned ticks can cause severe infestations in livestock, leading to weakness, anemia or even death in the animal. "If too many ticks attach to one animal, the loss of blood can kill the animal," according to a statement from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Adult longhorned ticks grow to the size of a pea when they are fully engorged with blood. At other stages of life, the ticks are very small — the size of a poppy seed or smaller, according to the USDA. In addition to livestock, the ticks can feed on humans, pets, small mammals, birds and other animals. Scientists don't know how they got here. Scientists are still investigating how this tick species spread to the United States. It's possible it may have entered the country by hitching a ride on pets, horses, livestock or humans, the USDA said. The tick is also an invasive species in Australia, New Zealand and several Pacific islands. The health threat to humans is unknown. In other countries, the longhorned tick is known to transmit disease to both humans and livestock. These diseases include the bacterial infections babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, theileriosis and rickettsiosis, as well as certain viral diseases, according to the USDA. One virus spread by the longhorned tick causes a disease called severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), The New York Times reported Aug. 6. STFS can be deadly. But more research is needed to determine whether the longhorned ticks in the U.S. spread diseases. So far, the longhorned ticks examined here haven't been found to carry any infectious pathogens, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. There are ways to protect yourself. People can protect themselves from longhorned ticks by taking the same precautions recommended to prevent tick bites from native ticks: Wear long sleeves and pants, apply insect repellent containing DEET, and check yourself and your pets for ticks. Original article on Live Science.