(NEXSTAR) – Ticks have been known to carry bacteria capable of causing illnesses like Lyme disease and a condition that can leave you allergic to red meat. Now, researchers have found a new tick-borne virus linked to an invasive species that has been spreading in the U.S.
The Asian longhorned tick was first discovered in the U.S. in 2017. It has since spread to more than two dozen states, from New York and Massachusetts south to South Carolina and west to Oklahoma and Missouri.
“This is extremely worrisome for several reasons,” she wrote. One reason is that Asian longhorned ticks can carry several important human pathogens, including the potentially fatal severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus and Rickettsia japonica, which cases Japanese spotted fever. “While these pathogens have yet to be found in the United States, there is a risk of their future introduction,” she added.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/tick-borne-disease/first-us-human-bite-worrying-longhorned-tick-noted