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ASIAN LONGHORNED TICK Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann --
Ixodida: Ixodidae |
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The Asian Longhorned Tick has been in
North America for over a decade, but it was first found in Georgia in the
southeastern United States in autumn of 1922. This tick is well adapted to occupy its new habitat and has
several features that make able to do so.
It is parthenogenetic with only females present and each female can
lay 2,000 eggs that in turn hatch only into a females. This then can result into explosive tick
populations. In Virginia ticks have
been found that are naturally infected with Theileria
orientalis, which is a serious pathogen of cattle. H.
longicrnis is expected to spread to the west coast of North
America in due course. Drs. Nancy Hinkle & Michael Yabsley of the University of
George reviewing the distribution and behavior of this tick notes that
although it was first reported in continental North America in 2017 from a
sheep in New Jersey, its presence is confirmed in West Virginia in 2010 from
archived specimens. It has since been
reported in at least a dozen states along the eastern seaboard down to
Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Its mode of distribution is unknown, but it spreads rapidly. Originally from northeast Asia, this tick
was introduced to Australia and New Zealand over 100 years ago, where it
established and became a major problem on cattle and sheep. It presents a serious threat to livestock;
in fact, in Australia it is known as “the cattle tick.” But it appears this tick does not
discriminate among many animal species.
It has already been found on over two dozen hosts, including birds,
which can easily spread it. Haemaphysalis
longicornis is of concern because it is not native to North
America, and there are no known natural controls such as predators or
parasites to suppress its numbers.
Animals have not developed any natural resistance to it, so it is
likely to thrive on both wildlife and livestock. Being parthenogenetic a single female introduced into an area
can start a new population, with infestations readily spreading. Each female produces over 2,000 eggs, so
populations can rapidly increase. Its
potential role as a pathogen vector is of particular concern as well and its
status as a livestock pest. In its
native range it can transmit numerous zoonotic pathogens including bacterial
(e.g., species of Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Borrelia, Rickettia)
and viral (e.g., Powassan virus, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome
virus) pathogens. It can also
transmit Babesia and Theileria spp. to livestock, and
morbidity and mortality may be caused by very large tick burdens. Thus far by 2022 in the United
States, no pathogens have been found in individuals tested, but there have
been two notable events involving the tick and cattle. In August 2017, seven cattle from Virginia
with weakness and malaise died, and in September an additional cow presented
with anemia and weakness. This cow
was diagnosed with Theileria orientalis
Ikeda strain, which had not previously been reported in the US and is
transmitted by the ticks in Asia and Australia (Oakes et al. 2019). Recently, a cow in North Carolina died due
to anemia related to an infestation with thousands this tick species. Neither
T. orientalis nor Anaplasma marginale was detected in this
cow. Ticks are prone to dehydration so
that they remain within a few inches of the ground. They may be found on the
tips of grasses, reaching out with hooked claws. As an animal walks by they attach on low-lying clothing and
then ascend to higher parts of the body.
Protection is similar for most other tick species. Dr. Hinkle advises that for humans, tuck
pants into socks and treat pants below the knees with permethrin-containing
products (like Permanone, Duranon, or Sawyer Insect Repellent). Another important procedure for control is
to conduct daily tick body checks of persons and pets that may have been
exposed to ticks. Because ticks are
slow to start feeding it is advisable to remove them within 24 hours of
attaching. which will greatly reduce
the risk of infection with any diseases the ticks might be carrying. For positive identification ticks may be
placed in a small bottle or plastic bag with denatured alcohol and sent to
state or federal agencies or local public health facilities that have
diagnostic specialists. Specimens
should bear labels of from which person or animal host they were obtained. REFERENCES: Beard, C. Ben; James Occi, Denise L. Bonilla, Andrea M.
Egizi, Dina M. Fonseca, James W. Mertins, Bryon P. Backenson, Waheed L.
Bajwa, Alexis M. Barbarin, Matthew A.
Bertone & Justin Brown.
2018. Multistate Infestation with the Exotic Disease–Vector
Tick Haemaphysalis
longicornis United States,
August 2017–September 2018. Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report. 67
(47): 1310–1313. Bickerton, M., K.
McSorley & A. Toledo. 2021. A life stage-targeted acaricide
application approach for the control of Haemaphysalis
longicornis. Ticks and
Tick-borne Diseases, 12 (1): 101-581. Cane, Rachel. 2010. Haemaphysalis
longicornis Neumann, 1901 Profile New Zealand Biosecure Entomology
Laboratory, April 2010, 9 pp. Dinkel, K. D., D. R. Herndon, S. M. Noh, K. K.
Lahmers, S. M. Todd, M. W. Ueti, G. A. Scoles, K. L.
Mason & L. M. Fry. 2021.
A U. S. isolate of Theileria
orientalis, Ikeda genotype, is transmitted to cattle by the
invasive Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis
longicornis. Parasites
& Vectors, 14 (1): 1-11. Heath, A. C. G. 2016.
Biology, ecology and distribution of the tick, Haemaphysalis
longicornis Neumann (Acari: Ixodidae) in New
Zealand. New
Zealand Veterinary Journal, 64 (1): 10-20. Hinkle, Nancy C. & Michael J. Yabsley. 2019. Asian Longhorned Tick in the Southeast. College of Veterinary Medicine and Warnell
School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Athens, Georgia. PDF. Hoogstraal, H., F.
H. Roberts, G. M. Kohls & Y. J. Tipton.
1968. Review of Haemaphysalis (Kaiseriana) longicornis Neumann
(resurrected) of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Japan, Korea,
and northeastern China and USSR, and its parthenogenetic and bisexual
populations (Ixodoidea, Ixodidae). Journal
of Parasitology 1968: pp. 1197-1213. Lee, Bruce Y. 2018.
New Jersey Is Dealing with a Tick Species That Is New to America. Forbes.
22 April 2018. Lee, M. R., D. Li,
S. J. Lee, J. C. Kim, S. Kim,
S. E. Park, S. Baek, T. Y. Shin, D. H. Lee & J. S. Kim. 2019. Use of Metarhizum
anisopliae sl to control
soil-dwelling longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis. Journal
of Invertebrate Pathology 2019, p. 107-230. Lee, Mi-Jin &
Joon-Seok Chae. 2010. Molecular detection of Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Anaplasma bovis in the salivary glands
from Haemaphysalis longicornis
ticks. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic
Diseases. 10 (4): 411–413. Meng, Z.; L. P. Jiang, Q. Y. Lu, S. Y.
Cheng, J. L. Ye & L. Zhan.
2008. [Detection of co-infection
with Lyme spirochetes and spotted fever group rickettsiae in a group of Haemaphysalis longicornis]. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi (in
Chinese). 29 (12): 1217–1220. Oakes,
V. J, M. J. Yabsley, D.
Schwartz, T. LeRoith, C.
Bissett, C. Broaddus, J. L.
Schlater, S. M. Todd, K. M.
Boes, M. Brookhart &
K. K. Lahmers. 2019. Theileria
orientalis Ikeda Genotype
in Cattle, Virginia, USA. Emerg.
Infect. Dis. 25 (9): 1653-1659. Park, G. H., H. K. Kim, W. G. Lee, S. H. Cho &
G. H. Kim, 2019. Evaluation of the
acaricidal activity of 63 commercialized pesticides against Haemaphysalis
longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae). Entomological
Research 2019. Rainey, T., J. L.
Occi, R. G. Robbins & A. Egizi.
2018. Discovery of Haemaphysalis longicornis (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
parasitizing a sheep in New Jersey, United States. Journal of Medical Entomology, 55 (3): 757-759. Singh, N. K., R. J. Miller, G. M. Klafke, J. A.
Goolsby, D. B. Thomas &
A. A. P. de Leon. 2018. In-vitro efficacy of a botanical acaricide
and its active ingredients against larvae of susceptible and
acaricide-resistant strains of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus)
microplus Canestrini (Acari: Ixodidae). Ticks and
Tick-Borne Diseases
9 (2):
201-206. Taylor, Dan. 2018.
Shocking discovery in New Jersey, authorities scrambling. Morning Ticker. 22
April 2018. Thompson, A.
T., S. White, D. Shaw,
A. Egizi, K. Lahmers, M. G. Ruder & M. J. Yabsley. 2020. Theileria orientalis Ikeda in
host-seeking Haemaphysalis longicornis
in Virginia, USA. Ticks and
Tick-Borne Diseases 11 (10): 1450. |