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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