New Jersey officials discover H. longicornis uptickMay 4, 2018 The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has confirmed the presence of the longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, in Union County after an infestation was first found last August on a Hunterdon County sheep. H. longicornis is native to China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, and also has populations in Australia, New Zealand, and Russia, as well as on multiple Pacific islands. In South Korea, it has been linked to the spread of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus, described in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report as "a newly emerging infectious disease." SFTS symptoms include fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and elevated serum enzyme levels, according to the CDC. The tick has been associated with rare human disease, such as spotted fever rickettsiosis, according to Andrea M. Egizi, an author of a study on the New Jersey longhorned tick infestation, published in Rutgers Center for Vector Biology. Thus far, no New Jersey longhorned ticks have been found to be carrying disease, according to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. H. longicornis has the potential to infest dogs, cats, livestock, and more. It can …
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East Asian tick species turns up on New Jersey sheepMarch 6, 2018A tick native to East Asia—also known as the longhorned, bush, or cattle tick—turned up on a New Jersey sheep with no travel history or nearby domesticated animals, according to a report from National Public Radio. Haemaphysalis longicornis multiplies quickly, feeds on mammalian blood, including humans. In South Korea, it has been linked to the spread of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus, described in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report as "a newly emerging infectious disease," NPR reported. H. longicornis can transmit theileriosis to cattle, which can cause blood loss and occasional death of calves; Lyme bacteria, spotted fever group rickettsioses, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Anaplasma bovis have been detected in H. longicornis. SFTS features symptoms of fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and elevated serum enzyme levels, according to the CDC. In August, the sheep's owner noticed that her clothing was covered in ticks—and not the area's native deer ticks. Investigators found hundreds on the sheep and collected nearly 1,000 more from the 1-acre paddock, according to NPR. The tick has previously been found in the U.S. on large animals in quarantine, but this is the first …
