New virus detected in a tick invasive to the US. Should we be concerned?

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What is Lyme disease?

What is Lyme disease?

(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. 

Female Asian longhorned ticks are able to lay eggs without mating, which allows them to spread quickly, Emily Struckhoff, an education program specialist with Penn State Extension’s Vector-Borne Disease Team, told Nexstar. Nearly all of the Asian longhorned ticks found in the U.S. have been females, she added.

Unlike other ticks in the U.S., the Asian longhorned tick has not been known to carry the bacterium responsible for other common diseases associated with the tiny pests. They do pose a serious threat to livestock by spreading bovine theileriosis, a potentially fatal condition.

In its native range in Asia, the Asian longhorned tick is known to transmit “a number of........

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