Giving Compass' Take:

• The Asian long-horned tick has arrived in the United States and could potentially add to the growing number of individuals contracting Lyme disease and possibly other harmful conditions. 

• The author mentions that climate change and warmer temperatures might be a potential reason for the migration of these ticks. How will we begin to address the significant effects of climate change on animal populations that in turn will affect us?

• Read more about the role of climate change in tick-mosquito borne diseases. 

The Asian long-horned tick is the first new tick species to arrive in the United States in 50 years, and it’s making its debut across the east coast, according to the New York Times. It’s been seen in seven states, and is especially prevalent in the suburbs of New York City.

The ticks are known for gathering in large numbers on hosts and gorging on blood, the Times notes. They were first discovered in the US on Nov. 9, 2017, on a sheep farm in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, according to New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture.

Thus far, the tick hasn’t posed a significant threat to people in the US, largely because it hasn’t picked up dangerous pathogens in the country. Also, the tick has a preference for livestock over humans.

For livestock, these ticks transmit theileriosis, a disease that causes anemia and sometimes death.

The insect can also carry other diseases like Lyme, spotted fever, and others, according to the Lyme Disease Association. There is also potential for these ticks to carry alpha-gal syndrome, which causes an allergy to red meat. In East Asia, they’re known for transmitting phlebovirus that causes SFTS, which causes internal bleeding and organ failure.

The fatality rate of SFTS is about 15% among the average population, and jumps to 60% for people over 60, according to the Times.

The threat of ticks has only become more concerning as temperatures warm and their ranges expand, according to New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture, exposing more people to disease. "We know that climate change has contributed to Lyme disease spreading northward and to higher elevations," Rick Ostfeld, an ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, told NPR.

Read the full article about new Asian tick in the U.S. by Dana Brandes-Simon at Global Citizen