Posted on 08/07/2018 5:55:08 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A tick species that's native to Asia has now spread to the United States, and it's popping up in numerous places along the East Coast, according to U.S. officials.
Females can reproduce asexually and lay thousands of eggs.
Female longhorned ticks don't need a male to reproduce. They can spawn asexually using a process known as parthenogenesis. After feeding, a single female can lay around 2,000 eggs, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. That's enough to establish a tick population in a new location, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says.
They suck so much blood, it can cause anemia, or even death, in livestock.
Due to these large numbers, longhorned ticks can cause severe infestations in livestock, leading to weakness, anemia or even death in the animal.
Adult longhorned ticks grow to the size of a pea when they are fully engorged with blood. At other stages of life, the ticks are very small — the size of a poppy seed or smaller, according to the USDA.
Scientists don't know how they got here.
Scientists are still investigating how this tick species spread to the United States. It's possible it may have entered the country by hitching a ride on pets, horses, livestock or humans, the USDA said. The tick is also an invasive species in Australia, New Zealand and several Pacific islands.
The health threat to humans is unknown.
In other countries, the longhorned tick is known to transmit disease to both humans and livestock. These diseases include the bacterial infections babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, theileriosis and rickettsiosis, as well as certain viral diseases, according to the USDA. One virus spread by the longhorned tick causes a disease called severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), The New York Times reported Aug. 6. STFS can be deadly.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
1) They are DemoRats.
You sir, are just full of good news.
The real question is how to eradicate them. I hope it’s easier than eradicating leftists.
There’s nothing worse than small ticks.
Has any type of tick been eradicated?
I don’t think so, unless a nuclear bomb is used.
Chiggers.
” Scientists don’t know how they got here.”
Are these the same imbeciles who pimp global warming? They came from all the filty 3rd world immigrants you morons!
Ahh.....poly tics... the worst kind.
“These diseases include the bacterial infections babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, theileriosis and rickettsiosis, as well as certain viral diseases, according to the USDA.”
I hate reading about diseases with names that are practically unpronouncable.
“Females can reproduce asexually and lay thousands of eggs.
Female longhorned ticks don’t need a male to reproduce.”
Sort of like American lesbians only wish.
“The health threat to humans is unknown.”
Wild ass guess...not good.
F’n Asian creatures again!!!! How many “bugs” do we need to import before ALL of our native trees, flowers, insects, birds and humans are endangered or extinct. F you Asian long horned beetle, Asian Ladybeetle, Asian sourced Ophiostoma fungus (Dutch elm)....and on and on. Diversity can suck, just sayin’.
And, of course, there is the specific species - democrat-tics.
Can’t spell democratic without ‘rat’ and ‘tic’.
The easy to pronounce ones are bad enough...”Ebola”
If lethality is proportional to pronouncability, we are in BIG trouble.
“Scientists don’t know how they got here”...
-——— Well that’s one mighty stupid bunch of scientists. Every FReeper on this thread knows how they got here!
Most likely they are coming from dogs that are being brought in from other countries and put up through adoption in the states without any health check by vets.
Looking forward to the Cholera in the excrement encrusted Sanctuary Cities.
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