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The long horned Asian tick is spreading in parts of the United States and the control and disease prevention centers have issued a warning.
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There is a new type of crawly-crawly to watch in East Tennessee this summer. The long horned Asian tick, which can reproduce without mating, was found on animals in Union, Roane and Knox counties.

The parasite was discovered for the first time about two years ago on sheep in New Jersey.

"We somehow found the tick by accident, and this has caused a lot of people to wonder what lies here and there is a lack of others in what we know about ticks in the country. "said Dr. Rebecca Trout-Fryxell, a veterinary entomologist at the Institute of Entomology and Phytopathology of the University of Tennessee.

Trout-Fryxell is part of a team of several agencies that study ticks: the Department of Agriculture of the University of Tennessee, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Department of Health of the United States. 39; State and Department of Agriculture of the United States.

"We have gathered and said well, we will simply check all possible measures," she said. "What we are really trying to do is to get a general assessment of the presence of ticks in Tennessee."

Long-horned Asian ticks have been found on domestic animals, livestock, wildlife and humans. (Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

There are no reports of ticks further south than Tennessee. It has also appeared in Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Outside the United States, ticks have been shown to carry multiple infections and viruses, but to date no infectious agents have been identified for long-horned ticks found in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control has established tick colonies to test whether or not they are capable of transporting and transmitting pathogens found in the United States, such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Tick ​​may not prefer to eat at the man

Until now, only two people have been bitten in the United States and Trout-Fryxell said that she had found ticks crawling on her body while she was recovering them on the ground, without ever to have been bitten.

"They are feeding on other things, it does not seem like they are really choosing to feed on humans," she said, adding that many arthropods were feeding on animals. specific species, but that longcor tick of Asia was found on a hawk and 17 different species of mammals, but on very few humans.

Dogs, cattle, white-tailed deer and small ruminants such as sheep and goats may be at risk of being bitten.

Scientists still do not know how the invasive tick will survive in Western Hemisphere habitats or how it will move into new areas, although Trout-Fryxell has stated that it is likely that they will have come from an infested animal.

"We do not know where it comes from, although it is suspected that it comes from one of the regions where ticks currently live, such as Southeast Asia." "said Trout-Fryxell. Ticks are also found in New Zealand and Australia.

Until now, the University of Tennessee has only recovered female ticks in the field, but the collected females have male and female reproductive organs.

Most ticks can lay between 2,000 and 4,000 eggs a year, although it takes two to three years to become a breeding adult. But, said Trout-Fryxell, the Asian horned tick is known in other parts of the world to grow faster from egg to adult.

"And since it's not necessary to find a partner to reproduce, the population can spread very quickly," she said, adding that scientists did not know if an explosion of invasive ticks in the hemisphere could displace native tick populations.

"It will probably be something where, when we find one in one place, we will find many."

What to do if you think you have found an Asian tick with long horns

Trout-Fryxell said that if you find a tick on the outside or on an animal, you can participate in the study by sending it to the University of Tennessee.

To do this, place the tick in a zipper bag bearing the date, the location where it was found and the animal on which it was found, and send it to the 370 Plant Biotechnology Building , 2505 EJ Chapman Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996.

You can also submit it to your local county extension officer. Entomologists analyze each tick presented with the appropriate information, but respond to the authors only if the tick is actually an Asian tick.

If you find a tick on a human being, Trout-Fryxell has stated that after removing it with its mouthparts, it's best to keep the zipper bag labeled in your freezer to present it to a health professional if you start having symptoms of tick-borne illness.

"Once again, it is important not to be alarmist on this point," she said. "This tick is not very common right now, ticks like the solitary star tick are more common."

Contact Brittany Crocker at the following address: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @brittcrocker.

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