Experts issue urgent warning over disease-infested tick which has spread to more than 20 states
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Virginia Department of Health
Experts have issued an urgent warning over a disease-infected tick that is said to have spread to more than 20 states across the US.
Health professionals have certainly been busy recently - first having issued an urgent warning regarding 15 rabies outbreaks across the States, and now scientists are warning of an invasive species that is capable of spreading serious infection in states across the country.
Cases have now been confirmed in Maine, which marks the most north-easterly infection in the US - raising concerns for health officials.
It's all because of the Asian longhorned tick, with researchers at the University of Maine alongside state conservation officials identifying the potentially deadly pest back in July.
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As you'd probably expect from the name, the tick originated in East Asia - but has spread to the US in recent years.
It was first detected in the US in New Jersey in 2017, where it has spread illnesses such as spotted fever.
While health experts are not exactly sure how the health concern arrived in the US, public heath records do indicate pets or even livestock could have contributed, the Independent reports.
Now, it has spread to more than 20 states across the US, with the majority impacted being those in the eastern third of the country.
The CDC has reported that there have been more emergency room visits from tick bites this July than during the same period over the past eight years.
Thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) - This tick-borne disease can cause severe fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.
It can lead to kidney issues, haemorrhages and issues with multiple organs, and can be fatal.
Ehrlichiosis - The illness begins with mild flu-like symptoms, but if left untreated it can be very serious. Sixty percent of people who contract it are hospitalized and it's fatal in one in every 100 cases.
Griffin Dill, who is the director of the UMaine Extension Tick Lab, told the Independent: "This discovery underscores the critical importance of continued tick surveillance in Maine. While this appears to be an isolated case, we are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with state and federal partners."
Goudarz Molaei, from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, has been been monitoring the ticks in a lab.
"I am afraid to say that it is a storm brewing," the expert told NBC. "Climate change eventually will almost eliminate winter in our region. And this tick, like other tick species, will be active year-round."
Manisha Juthani, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, claims that climate change makes it harder to predict where these ticks could end up.
She said: "The reality is that with the changes we’re seeing in climate, we have to be more prepared and more aware of the infections and the pathogens that we can be exposed to by being outside and potentially being aware of the things that can really cause the most harm to people."