East Asian Tick discovered in New Jersey

A new tick has been discovered in the United States, first in New Jersey in 2017 and more recently in 2018 in Virginia.  Known as the longhorned or bush ticks, these ticks are typically found in Asia and Australia. On cattle, horse, and sheep, they can attach in large numbers, transmit disease that causes anemia, but rarely drain so much blood that the animal dies. These ticks can also transmit human disease.  They’re known in Asia to carry a potentially deadly virus causing a severe fever with bleeding (Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome).   It is unclear how the ticks in NJ were transmitted to the U.S.  Fortunately, so far, these East Asian ticks in the U.S. have not been shown to carry any pathogens. The abstract is currently available in the Journal of Medical Entomology.