NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Tennessee Department of Health, and University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture today announced the detection of the invasive Asian longhorned tick in an additional six Tennessee counties: Knox, Jefferson, Claiborne, Cocke, Putnam, and Sevier. The tick was detected in Union and Roane Counties in May.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there is no evidence to date that the tick has transmitted pathogens to humans in the U.S. There are concerns that the tick may transmit the agent of Theileriosis in cattle, and heavy infestations can cause blood loss and lead to death.
It is important to be aware of this tick, as cattle and canines are particularly susceptible to tick bites. Livestock producers are reminded to be vigilant when purchasing animals, apply a tick treatment to cattle prior to bringing them to your farm, and always use best practices for herd health. Dog owners should provide their animals with a tick preventative and check for ticks.
“Tennessee has numerous animal hosts and a suitable habitat for this tick species,” Dr. R.T. Trout Fryxell, Associate Professor of Medical and Veterinary Entomology for UTIA, said. “While it is always important to be diligent and keep an eye out for all ticks, the unique biology of the Asian longhorned tick helps this species to establish quickly and become a problem.”
Tips to prevent tick bites in animals and livestock include:
· Coordinate with your veterinarian to determine appropriate pest prevention for pets and livestock.
· Check pets and livestock for ticks frequently.
· Remove any ticks by pulling from the attachment site of the tick bite with tweezers.
· Monitor your pets and livestock for any changes in health
If your animals are bitten by a tick, Dr. Trout Fryxell suggests putting the tick in a ziplock bag, writing down the date and where the tick was most likely encountered, and storing it in a freezer.
For additional information about the longhorned tick in the United States, click here. To find more information on tick-borne diseases, click here.
________________
**Comment**
The Asian Tick has been found in the following 12 states: Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Tennessee.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/10/26/researchers-conclude-asian-longhorned-tick-contributes-minimally-to-lyme-disease-in-the-u-s/ This article admits it can transmit Lyme. It’s also suspected of transmitting the following: Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Borrelia species.
For a great read: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/12/three-surprising-things-i-learned-about-asian-longhorned-ticks-the-tick-guy-tom-mather/
https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2019/deer,-fragmented-forests,-ticks,-a-lyme-like-disease-and-a-little-praise-for-possums.php Full Article Here
“…Say — what’s that?”
“Nothing but a tick.”
“Where’d you get him?”
“Out in the woods.”
“What’ll you take for him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to sell him.”
—Tom and Huck, in Tom Sawyer
Ticks were evidently so rare in Samuel Clemens’ Hannibal that a single live specimen had value enough to tempt Tom Sawyer to part with his newly shed tooth. Matthias Leu says it was the same in the Switzerland of his more recent youth.
“When I was a boy, I spent all my time in the forest,” Leu said. “I never saw one tick. And in Switzerland now, you should not leave the trails because there are so many ticks. So, it’s not just in North America; it’s global.”
__________________
**Comment*
Great read which exposes the fact that little is known about the Ehrlichia chaffeensis bacterium which gives similar symptoms as Lyme disease. According to biologist Matthias Leu, “There probably has been a lot of ehrlichiosis that was misdiagnosed as Lyme.” Leu and his colleagues studied the habitat of the Lone Star Tick and found that forest fragmentation causes more edges which deer love, giving ticks an easy meal.
Leu explains that deer are “competent hosts,” serving not only as a meal for the tick, but also a reservoir for ehrlichiosis, capable of infecting the next feasting tick with Ehrlichia chaffeensis. He states that fawns and yearling deer are especially important in transmission of the bacterium.
According to this study, health providers often fail to consider ehrlichia when treating tick borne infections: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181001171202.htm
“The failure to test for Ehrlichia, even as more and more evidence suggests that the infection may be just as common as other endemic tick-borne diseases, appears to impact patient care with antibiotics prescribed less frequently when testing is not ordered.”
For more on Ehrlichia: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/02/everything-thats-known-about-ehrlichiosis/
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/24/oklahoma-ehrlichiosis-central/
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/09/dogs-ehrlichiosis/
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/02/everything-thats-known-about-ehrlichiosis/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X19303498
The invasive, human-biting Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, was detected in New Jersey in the eastern United States in August of 2017 and by November of 2018 this tick had been recorded from 45 counties across 9 states, primarily along the Eastern Seaboard. The establishment of H. longicornis in the United States has raised the questions of how commonly it will bite humans and which native pathogens may naturally infect this tick. There also is a need for experimental vector competence studies with native pathogens to determine if H. longicornis can acquire a given pathogen while feeding, pass it transstadially, and then transmit the pathogen in the next life stage.
In this experimental study, we evaluated the vector competence of a population of H. longicornis originating from the United States (New York) for a native isolate (B31) of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.).
In agreement with a previous experimental study on the vector competence of H. longicornis for Borrelia garinii, we found that uninfected H. longicornis larvae could acquire B. burgdorferi s.s. while feeding on infected Mus musculus mice (infection prevalence >50% in freshly fed larvae) but that the infection was lost during the molt to the nymphal stage. None of 520 tested molted nymphs were found to be infected, indicating that transstadial passage of B. burgdorferi s.s. is absent or rare in H. longicornis; and based on the potential error associated with the number of nymphs testing negative in this study, we estimate that the upper 95% limit for infection prevalence was 0.73%.
An Ixodes scapularis process control showed both effective acquisition of B. burgdorferi s.s. from infected mice by uninfected larvae and transstadial passage to the nymphal stage (infection prevalence of 80–82% for both freshly fed larvae and molted nymphs). We also observed that although H. longicornis larvae could be compelled to feed on mice by placing the ticks within feeding capsules, attachment and feeding success was minimal (<0.5%) when larvae were placed freely on the fur of the mice.
_______________
**Comment**
Transmission can still happen and if you are the sorry sucker it happens to – it makes all the difference in the world. Here’s the deal – ticks are not your friends. Take each and every tick bite as seriously as a heart attack. Little is known about the Asian Longhorned tick but in Asia it’s bite KILLS 15% of those whom contract it. Don’t take this lightly.
Excerpt:
Several other human pathogens have been detected in the ticks, but it’s not clear the Asian longhorned species are able to transmit them to humans. They include Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Borreliaspecies. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria.
She warned that the organisms are present in states where longhorned ticks have been found and that it’s possible that the tick—known to be an aggressive biter—might be able to transmit Heartland virus, given its close relationship to SFTS virus.
Pritt said it’s clear that the invasive species is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and next steps should include public awareness campaigns that incorporate the new information, easy-to-use resources for labs to identify the tick, and more research to understand the implications of the new findings.
For a great read on this aggressive biter which can clone itself and is found in sunny open locations: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/12/three-surprising-things-i-learned-about-asian-longhorned-ticks-the-tick-guy-tom-mather/. This picture demonstrates how if you brush against a blade of grass a literal cluster bomb of ticks explodes onto you. To downplay this is really short sighted.
https://www.lymedisease.org/rapid-diagnose-lyme-disease-nih/
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology describes a new rapid assay for Lyme disease that could lead to a practical test for use by healthcare providers.
The researchers found the assay, which uses several biomarkers to detect Lyme disease infection, was more sensitive than current laboratory-based tests when diagnosing Lyme disease early after suspected infection.
The research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a spiral-shaped bacterium transmitted by deer ticks. Many cases of Lyme disease can be treated effectively with a short course of antibiotics.
However, Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose because it causes a wide range of symptoms, from fever and rash to neurologic and cardiac symptoms and joint pain. Current Lyme disease tests also can miss an infection if performed too early.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a two-step blood test for diagnosing Lyme disease that looks for antibodies against Lyme disease. These tests require specialized laboratory equipment and can require days or weeks to return results.
The authors of the paper plan to develop a simpler, faster, more sensitive test that could be used at the point of care during a single visit to a healthcare provider.
The researchers first screened a set of known Lyme disease biomarkers for their ability to indicate infection. They then tested for the top three biomarkers on samples from people with early Lyme disease, from healthy individuals from areas where Lyme disease is endemic, and from people with Lyme arthritis.
This was compared to results obtained using the standard two-step testing procedure.
Overall, the new set of biomarkers was more sensitive than standard Lyme disease tests. These biomarkers were better at picking up signs of Lyme disease infection in early stage samples—possibly because they were able to detect antibodies that peak in the first two to six weeks after a person is infected with Lyme disease.
These results open the possibility of developing a point-of-care test for Lyme disease. The assay will require more refinement and testing before it can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the researchers say that these results show great potential.
SOURCE OF PRESS RELEASE: National Institutes of Health
Click here for more about Lyme disease testing.
_________________
**Comment*
Please note a few things about this test:
While I appreciate new technology and efforts to simplify a complex illness – this illness is NOT for dummies. The best advice I can offer health care workers is to get educated! Do not be lazy. People are literally suffering untold agony, and dying from this.
For more information on how to get educated on tick borne illness: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/06/lyme-education-for-healthcare-professionals/
