Disease-Carrying Asian Tick Species Makes Its Way to Eight U.S. States

The appearance of a tick native to eastern Asia and Korea in the U.S. has alarmed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention enough that the agency issued a formal report on it this week. Several factors make the tick newsworthy:

• The fact that the Asian longhorned tick has been found in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, Arkansas and West Virginia indicates that global travel and climate change are likely to bring more disease-bearing organisms to our shores
• This tick has been shown to transmit a wide number of diseases to both humans and animals in Asia
• It has the ability to reproduce without mating, laying up to 2,000 eggs at a time, meaning it can spread farther and faster than most ticks

The CDC is calling for vigilance among state and local health departments, as well as coordination with entomologists and agricultural experts. JUCM covered the subject of patients presenting with concerns over tick bites in Urgent Care Diagnosis and Management of Tick-Borne Diseases; you can read that article in our archive.