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'We don't really need another tick': Bloodsucking Asian invader threatening Georgia

Athens Banner-Herald - 7/1/2021

Jul. 1—An invasive species of tick that reproduces in the thousands and is blamed for the death of cattle in North Carolina is now threatening Georgia.

"It seems to be moving down the mountain chain and may be headed your way," Surry County (N.C.) Cooperative Extension Director Bryan Cave said recently.

These blood-craving arachnids — the Asian longhorned tick — have already invaded 15 states from Connecticut to Arkansas to South Carolina, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

University of Georgia researchers are aware of the tick's movements and know the bloodsuckers will likely arrive in Georgia at some point.

"We have a grant from the Georgia Cattlemen's Association to monitor it in cattle. That is what we are most concerned about," said UGA Cooperative Extension Veterinary entomologist Nancy Hinkle, who studies such blood-feeders as ticks, lice and mosquitoes.

In some corners of the world like Australia, the longhorned tick is a "scourge," Hinkle said. "When you have Asian longhorned ticks, you don't just have one or a dozen, you have hundreds."

That's what happened in Surry County, N.C., located in a mountainous area along the Virginia border, where five cattle died after an infestation by the Asian tick.

When the first young bull died, Cave said it was attributed to a metabolic disorder, but the farm would eventually end up losing five young bulls to the same fate.

"We finally identified the Asian longhorned tick as the reason. It was a huge infestation," Cave said about the young bulls that were covered with ticks.

The ticks basically consumed enough of the cattle's blood to "put them in an anemic state and they didn't survive," the extension agent said. "We sprayed the pasture and knocked them back, but we did not get rid of them."

Hinkle said the tick was found in the United States about four years ago.

As for how it arrived in this country, one can only speculate, according to Hinkle.

"It has a wide host range. It's been found on whitetail deer, sheep, cows, possums and racoons — just about every type of wildlife including birds," Hinkle said.

"The thing I probably hate the most about this tick is that it is parthenogenesis — they are all females. They don't have males. They don't need males. Every one that hatches is going to produce another 2,000 or more eggs, so you only need one tick to start a brand-new infestation," she said.

The tick is also capable of transmitting diseases to humans and animals.

"We want something that will help us control these ticks," Hinkle said.

Cave said that besides treating pastures, they are also treating cattle for the ticks.

"The best option we've come up with is using a permethrin product," he said. Permethrin is the active ingredient in a number of pesticides.

The ticks are "kind of small, but they are extremely fast," Cave said. "My experience from testing pastures ... they can come up my pant legs pretty quick. They move in a hurry."

Hinkle wants Georgia residents to report any animals with masses of ticks to their extension service.

"We're not expecting people to be able to differentiate this tick from all the other ticks we have in Georgia, but we do ask if you see an animal with lots of ticks on it, to get specimens, several. And we'd love to see them," she said.

"Georgia has 22 species of ticks, so that is generous for any state. We don't really need another tick," Hinkle added.

Collected ticks can be submitted to one's county extension office. An extension office can be reached by calling 1-800-ASK-UGA1.

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