Indiana University researchers have found a Gulf Coast tick in southern Indiana.

As the name suggests, this species of arachnid is primarily found in states that border the Gulf of Mexico. Its presence in Indiana could signify an expanded range, and for Hoosiers that would mean an increased risk of contracting a nasty disease.

Tidewater fever, or rickettsia parkeri, is a form of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Both illnesses can result in fever, headache, rash and muscle aches.

“It’s not as bad as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but it’s something you don’t want to get, for sure,” said Keith Clay, IU distinguished professor emeritus of biology.

Clay recently left IU after more than three decades to become chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. He still leads IU’s Project Vector Shield, an initiative started in 2018 that collects ticks and mosquitoes from sites throughout Indiana.

The goal is to provide early warning for disease vectors that pose a threat to people and livestock. The project is part of IU’s Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge initiative.

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Ticks and mosquitoes are collected during the growing season — roughly April through October — at 10 sites scattered across southern Indiana. Researchers regularly perform what’s known in the tick world as dragging or flagging at each site during the growing season, Clay said.

This technique consists of slowly dragging a heavy, white corduroy cloth across an area of vegetation. If ticks are present, they will instinctively grab onto the cloth, thinking it’s a deer, a dog or some other creature that could provide a blood meal.

“Maybe you get none, maybe one or two, and sometimes you hit a hot spot and get 500 on a cloth,” Clay said. “It’s kind of like fishing.”

When ticks are found on a cloth, they’re collected with tweezers and placed in sample tubes with 70% ethanol. This kills the ticks instantly while preserving them until they can be analyzed at an IU lab. There, the ticks are sorted by species, sex and life stage.

When Clay started looking at ticks in the late 1990s, the dog tick was the only species found in this area. Since then, the lone star tick population has exploded. It’s by far the most common species found in Indiana today, Clay said.

Recently, the blacklegged deer tick, which transmits Lyme disease, has become more common, particularly in the southern part of the state.

A student who was sorting ticks in the IU lab recently noticed one that looked different. Clay thought it was a Gulf Coast tick, but he wanted to be sure. High-resolution photos of the bug were taken and sent to the U.S. National Tick Collection at Georgia Southern University.

“It took an expert about 10 seconds to identify it,” Clay said.

At first, Vector Shield researchers thought this was the first Gulf Coast tick found in Indiana. This was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maps of tick distribution, Clay said.

It turned out the Indiana State Department of Health had previously found a Gulf Coast tick in Gibson County. That’s just north of Posey County, the source of the tick IU researchers discovered.

“Two ticks don’t make for an invasion, but it’s at least plausible that there’s a lot more of them out there,” Clay said.

It’s not exactly clear what’s causing the increase of tick diversity in Indiana. Climate change is one likely factor. Winters aren’t as severe and don’t last as long, Clay said. This extends the growing season and the time that ticks — along with other animals they may latch on to — are active.

Changing landscapes could also play a role. Southern Indiana was once all forest, Clay said. Development and farming has transformed the region into more of a patchwork. Grasslands and scrubby areas are where ticks tend to thrive, he said.

Like other animals, ticks tend to follow their food. The deer population, as well as livestock, has increased dramatically over the past 300 years, Clay said.

Of course, both of the Gulf Coast ticks found in Indiana could be random occurrences in which the bugs latched on to someone or something that traveled north from the southern U.S.

“Maybe they don’t persist and form a viable population,” Clay said, “but it certainly warrants a closer look.”

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/17/uw-madison-phd-in-ecological-climatology-climate-change-computer-models-fudged-except-russian-model/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/01/03/john-stossel-destroys-climate-change-myths-in-new-video/