First person bitten by Asian longhorn tick

The Tick Laboratory of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station reports early evidence that a long-horned tick in East Asia stung a resident of Fairfield County.

This newly discovered tick is an important pest of livestock that feeds on a wide variety of mammals, including humans, but the frequency is not clear. In Asia, long-horned ticks have been found to carry several human pathogens, but it is not known whether this tick will be able to transmit native pathogens such as those causing Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis or Powassan virus.

The tick, which bears the scientific name Haemaphysalis longicornis, is an invasive species that was originally discovered on a New Jersey farm in 2017. It was most recently detected in Connecticut in July 2018.

Dr Goudarz Molaei, who heads the CAES Tick Testing program, said in a statement that "the laboratory is closely monitoring the human-bite activity of this newly discovered invasive tick species and its potential involvement in the transmission of exotic agents. and local.

"Identifying an Asian Long-Ankle Feeding from a State Resident Emphasizes the Importance of Our Tick Testing Program to Help Support the Tick's Ability to Bite Humans Outside of Its Area" distribution ", said the director of CAES in a press release. "In the future, it will be imperative to more fully assess the risk associated with this tick and its ability to transmit local pathogens."

The tick testing program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is a state-funded service that has been available to residents of the state since 1990. Ticks are only accepted by Connecticut residents and must be transmitted through the province. local health services.

The tests are performed for three pathogens for humans: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis; Babesia microti, the causative agent of babesiosis; and Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent responsible for Lyme disease. The tests are carried out on nearly 4000 ticks a year.