This new deadly species of ticks can be in the form of plants, animals, bugs, viruses and bacteria. Some of these travel in tandem! One of the latest hangers on is a literal hanger on! It’s called the Asian longhorned tick and people are dubbing it the “Clone Tick” which makes this new visitor more terrifying.
What Is the Asian Longhorned Tick, The Newest Deadly Species of Ticks?
As more and more people travel the world so to do the problems and diseases of the world. The greatest example of this might be the decimation of native Americans that were, unintentionally, infected with smallpox. The white man, as evil as he is portrayed to be, did not plan on making landfall and wiping out his greatest trading partner in the New World.
However, disease does not discriminate. Disease does not play along with our human plans. These things still happen today, and goods shipped from across the world bring all sorts of invasive species to the American shores.
As of June 24th, longhorned ticks have been found in Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, per the CDC.
The most terrifying aspect of this tick is how it reproduces. It can reproduce using traditional methods, but females also reproduce asexually using a process called parthenogenesis. In other words, it doesn’t need a mate! She can lay up to 1000 eggs!
Therefore, the Asian Longhorned tick is such a problem in terms of infestation.
Until recently this tick was not found in the Western Hemisphere. It was found in Japan, China and Russia.
There is no doubt that this tick will spread throughout the regions of the nation, where it can survive. Its ability to reproduce rapidly and without mates means it will be virtually unstoppable in some areas, particularly deep woods.
Related: Melting Ice Cap Releases Deadly Trapped Ancient Viruses
Is It Dangerous?
There are some serious dangers posed by the Asian longhorned tick. One is the sheer numbers why they can ‘clone’ without a mate. Yes, the female longhorned tick can reproduce without having a male counterpart. That is a serious problem.
In Asia, the longhorned tick carries a disease that is fatal to 15% of those infected. While that might be alarming, none of the ticks caught and studied have been observed to have this virus. What makes me a little nervous is that in the CDC’s fact sheet on this tick there is no mention of this disease or its name.
There is no mention of how it can spread several different tickborne diseases. Here is a list that I found on Wikipedia, which is one of the only places that is talking about the full scope of diseases that this tick can carry.
[blockquote style=”1″]Human diseases such as Lyme spirochetes, spotted fever group rickettsiae, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Anaplasma bovis have been detected in H. longicornis. It has been associated with Russian spring-summer encephalitis, Powassan virus, Khasan virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, Japanese spotted fever, and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. Human pathogens have not so far been detected in the Asian longhorned tick in the US. (Source)
Whether the CDC is brave enough to admit it or not the longhorned tick is undoubtedly a danger. Any blood-sucking parasite that can reproduce without mating, to the tune of thousands of babies, is something to worry about.
While this tick is not taking its toll on the human population, it can also spread disease to animals. One has a profound affect on livestock, cows in particular. This is such an issue that one of its nicknames is the Cattle Tick.
[blockquote style=”1″]“Asian longhorned ticks, also sometimes called “clone ticks” because they can reproduce without mating, have infested and killed five cows in North Carolina this year — by draining them of blood. Each cow was overwhelmed by hundreds of ticks.
The official cause of death,” writes technology news site Ars Technica, “was acute anemia, which is typically associated with severe hemorrhaging.” (Source)
How Can We Stay Safe From The Asian Longhorned Tick?
The only saving grace is the fact that the Asian Longhorned tick is a tick like any other. While it has the numbers, it is still affected by things like repellent and your dogs’ medications.
If you head out into the woods, you need a protocol for assuring you are repelling insects. These little monsters carry disease and they are of varying severity.
While you might not look at them as such a dangerous consider this:
WHAT IS THE HUMAN RACES’ MOST DANGEROUS PREDATOR?
The Mosquito has killed exponentially more humans than any other animal on earth. Probably more than any that has ever walked the earth. Interesting, right? Of course, it wasn’t the fact that they sucked us dry of blood, it was and is Malaria that does the killing.
We should not discount the effect of a small parasite. The black plague was originated on parasites, as well.
Related: The Black Walnut Hull Remedy That Cleans Your Intestines Of Parasites
The Pests and Diseases of the World
It’s all going to wind up here. We can bark and bray about things like border security, but the reality is that all the world’s problems will wind up melting into the pot. So, what does that mean? Well, it means that Americans are responsible for dealing with the world’s problems, like it or not.
There is a very dark side to all this. While we like to think of America as the hero in this war against things like Zika, Ebola, disease-causing pests, it might not be so. What are the lengths that a nation should go to stop these things and what affect will that have on the planet?
In other words, we have a more dangerous tick population taking root in America. Does that mean we need more powerful or more thorough pesticides? If people start dying that is exactly what will happen. What are the repercussions of something like this?
America grows a lot of food for the world. While some parts of the world are sludge and deal with pests like these, other parts are lush growing areas that support the world with wheat, corn and soy. What happens if these precious areas are turned to sludge from pesticides, herbicides and everything else it takes to cure the ales of the entire world?
Just a thought.
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Thank you! As a wise judge once told. me. “Your ignorance of the law does not justify your actions”. To modify a bit, if we are ignorant of the dangers that surround us, that does not make us immune to them, it just makes us more vulnerable to them. Your timely advice helps make me not immune, but aware, and that helps keep me and mine safer, and better prepared. Thank you again!
you show us a picture of 2 ticks. is either of them the tick you are warning us about?
My ? also Hard to be on the look out when you have no description.
I am certainly no entomologist. but looking at the two ticks displayed, it appeared to me that the one on the left was the male of the species and the one on the right was the female. The one on the left is the smaller of the two and has small proboscises. The one on the right is larger and has more pronounced proboscises, which are used to initiate puncturing of the skin.
However, as I prefaced my comments, I am no entomologist and I could well be wrong. Those could be two totally different species of tick with differentiating features that I totally overlooked.
No
Typical of the US GOVERNMENT that they will ignore it until too many people are affected by it or die from it. I guess the cows that died from a tick infestation should have been eating more beef livers. That is what they will say if people die from this.
You should have left out the part about the Indians and smallpox. Unintentional? Our lives would be much improved if Columbus had wrapped himself in one of those blankets. It was genocide from the minute he landed.
I thought the reference to smallpox was most likely due the author’s poor understanding of history. The author apparently does not know that settlers deliberately sold, or gave away blankets that had been used by folks who died of smallpox because they knew the Indians were highly susceptible to it. In fact, whole villages were wiped out employing that method. The die-off of villages facilitated the acquisition of the land formerly occupied by the dead Indians.
Because of their isolation, inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere were highly susceptible to a whole host of diseases that adventurers from the Old World brought to the New World, some unwittingly, some deliberately.
I am presently reading a book about how malaria and yellow fever were introduced into the New World and the effect those diseases had on the native population as well as everyone else. Only the African slaves brought from equatorial Africa were basically immune to those two dread diseases. And it was the slave ships that brought the mosquitos that carried those diseases to the New World.
I hardly want the ales of the world to be cured. While I am not a big ale drinker, the world would be a darker place without ale.
OTOH, curing the world of all its ails is an undertaking we should avoid. I am tired of the U.S. undertaking the reformation of countries and peoples who are perfectly content with their lives. Even if some are not content, I don’t think we should be sticking our proboscises into the internal affairs of other countries.
This is a major groan. We’re not allowed to defend ourselves against importing these things, thanks to liberals seeking new voters.
While the dog’s flea medication contains things to kill mosquitoes and ticks, that doesn’t mean they won’t come after me before dying. I suffered tick fever all one summer thanks to that. I already use zinc for viral infections, so double dosing would wipe out the fever in a few days. niio
All tick diseases including Lyme disease is usually treatable and curable, as long as it is caught in its early phases. If treatment is not administered immediately, the individual may start experiencing joint aches and swelling, which may increase in severity. This pain may sometimes take even a month to develop. The knees are most commonly affected.
After removal of ANY TICK, put one drops of any of the following essential oils on the bite area.
Tea tree oil, Lemon Eucalyptus or Lavender essential oil- Wash the bite area and then place a drop of Tea Tree, Lemon Eucalyptus or Lavender essential oil placed on the bite area and this will help to disinfect the area. 3x/daily for 7 days. Topically Only! Also, Thieves or OnGuard Essential Oil Blends are good choices.
Oregano inhibited the growth of these common pathogenic germs that we deal with every day. Oregano will kill any kind of “germ”. Proof of this statement can be found in the Quarterly Review of Biology, March 1998 and the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, June 1977, among other authoritative publications.
Also taken internally. My herbalist said to mix 1 gram of vitamin C, 1g Himalayan/Sea salt and 3 drops oregano oil in an 8 oz glass of water, 3 times a day. Results can be seen within one week.
Ivermectin is a new option and use in Columbia for lymes disease. Oral antibiotics will be useful to treat early stages. Amoxicillin 500 mg 4x/day for 14 days or Doxycycline 100mg 2x/day for 14 days should work. BTW, you can get amoxicillin without a prescription in fish antibiotics, called Fish-Mox Forte. Doxycycline is available as Bird-Biotic.
Colloidal Silver 10ppm take 1oz CS in 3oz water 3x/daily for 10 days.