Invasive tick species spreads to 9 states, raises potential health concerns

quote:

---

A species of tick native to the Asia-Pacific region that potentially poses a disease threat to humans is now located in nine different states

---

quote:

---

he species — which is reportedly the first new tick species found in the U.S. in 50 years — is known formally as the Haemaphysalis longicornis, or the Asian long-horned tick.

---

quote:

---

the critters have since spread. New Jersey, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia have now “reported finding the tick on a variety of hosts, including people, wildlife, domestic animals, and in environmental samples,”

---

quote:

---

While “no harmful germs have been found in the ticks collected in the United States,” the CDC reported, the tick has reportedly transmitted the potentially life-threatening spotted fever rickettsiosis in Asia. The species may also transmit “severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS)," which is "an emerging infectious disease caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV),"

---