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>Have you heard of the Asian longhorned tick? Well, you have now, and, unfortunately, you might be hearing a whole lot more about them in the spring, as the CDC just released a report last week announcing their spread.
>The little buggers have never before been found in the Western Hemisphere and in fact are the first invasive tick species to arrive in the US in more than 80 years. But they are here now, and they are capable of reproducing and spreading with shocking speed. Typically found on livestock, but home anywhere ticks can live, they seem to swarm their hosts. Cows in Asia have been killed by the ticks simply because the little beasts drained the big mammals of their blood.
>Female ticks of the species, called Haemaphysalis longicornis, can lay up to 2,000 eggs at a time even without mating. Frequently, when animals are brought to vets to deal with the ticks, they are practically crawling with the pests. “Hundreds to thousands of ticks” are often found on people or animals when they’ve come into contact with the Asian longhorn.
Yikes
>The little buggers have never before been found in the Western Hemisphere and in fact are the first invasive tick species to arrive in the US in more than 80 years. But they are here now, and they are capable of reproducing and spreading with shocking speed. Typically found on livestock, but home anywhere ticks can live, they seem to swarm their hosts. Cows in Asia have been killed by the ticks simply because the little beasts drained the big mammals of their blood.
>Female ticks of the species, called Haemaphysalis longicornis, can lay up to 2,000 eggs at a time even without mating. Frequently, when animals are brought to vets to deal with the ticks, they are practically crawling with the pests. “Hundreds to thousands of ticks” are often found on people or animals when they’ve come into contact with the Asian longhorn.
Yikes
