Posted on 04/24/2018 8:36:54 AM PDT by Red Badger
HUNTERDON COUNTY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A tiny parasite could become a big problem this year in New Jersey.
It’s an exotic tick that’s never been seen before in the United States. It was first spotted on a sheep in Hunterdon County, and efforts to wipe it out have failed.
New Jersey has always been home to different species of ticks – five to be exact. But a new variety of the bloodsucking bug is now in the mix.
It’s the East Asian tick, sometimes called a longhorned or bush tick. Originally found in Asia, thousands of them are now in the Garden State.
Their discovery started with a call.
“A phone call from a resident in Hunterdon County that her sheep was infested with a lot of ticks. She brought some in and, low and behold, she was also covered in the same ticks,” research microbiologist James Occi said. “It was kind of an odd looking thing. She didn’t know what it was, she had never seen them before.”
Occi works with entomologists at Rutgers University who tested the ticks. He said steps were taken to kill them, but just a few days ago he used carbon dioxide traps and found a number of the pests survived.
That’s a problem, because like the deer ticks that spread Lyme disease, East Asian ticks have been known to spread a deadly virus called SFTS.
“It has the potential. That’s why we’re worried,” said Occi.
Residents who Finch spoke with said it’s alarming to think they have something new to worry about when they head outdoors.
“There’s enough things you have to worry about. So hearing about new things that could potentially jeopardize the health of your home is something to be concerned about,” Hoboken resident Laurena Morris said.
“My biggest concern is that my dog would bring it home and somehow my son would get it,” said Caitlin Dibetta.
“More work has to be done to keep these out and find ways when they are introduced, to find natural predators to eliminate them,” Steve Maikowski said.
Scientists will treat the affected farm with pesticide this week in hopes of eliminating the exotic pets. How the ticks made it to New Jersey in the first place is still a mystery.
Tests done on ticks found in November did not reveal any tick-borne diseases. The ticks collected a few days ago are being tested now.
No, menendez.
Ugh... as if I needed any even MORE reasons to move out of this diseased sh*thole....
ticks of all kinds are a major problem, when will we develop a good spray to kill them.
Mentioned last year too
It’s bad enough that they can’t drive or move the hell outa the wat, now they are bringing in more than relatives. Such a shame, our Hunterdon and some other counties are so beautiful, just getting to painful to live here with all of the NYC libs pouring in
Got a nasty tick bite right across the Delaware from NJ a couple weeks ago. Had to go to Urgent Care for antibiotics.
Possums are our only hope.
If you worry about this and other creepy crawlies in your home get some CEDARCIDE
It works great and is the ONLY thing that gets rid of bedbugs
“Poly-ticks”. They are all blood sucking creatures.
Gee, from the headline, I thought they were referring to New Jersey’s “citizens!”
Lyme disease is already the epidemic the cdc refuses to acknowledge or put any substantial amt. of money into research. It’s already affecting more than AIDS and breast cancer. There will be a rally in front of the Atlanta cdc on Mayr 4th from 9-5. Any help w ould be greatly appreciated.
“...a good spray to kill them...”
Actually we have some, but they kill lots of other things, too.
We need a good, safe spray to kill them.
I read a recent article stating that the hordes of incoming illegals included Chinese nationals. It didn't elaborate further. My guess: infested Chi-coms brought it into the illegal border traffic stream and either directly or indirectly ushered the tick in. I wonder if the farm had a roofing job done recently or used cheap labor to harvest a crop.
Been there done that, it's time for the DCD to start taking tick borne diseases seriously and developing a useful spray to kill them.
dcd = CDC
yep, time to bring it back
It is truly an ignored scourge. Most insurance companies won’t recognize that chronic lyme is even a thing. My cousin has it - ugly stuff. There’s a great documentary from several years ago called Under Our Skin (used to be on Netflix but can be found on youtube) that chronicles how utterly devastating it can be.
Actually, I think the big parasites in their legislature are the real problem.
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