Haemaphysalis longicornis | |
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Illustration by Des Helmore | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Ixodida |
Family: | Ixodidae |
Genus: | Haemaphysalis |
Species: | H. longicornis |
Binomial name | |
Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann, 1901 | |
Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick, [1] longhorned tick, [2] bush tick, [2] Asian tick, [3] or cattle tick, is a parasitic arachnid belonging to the tick family Ixodidae. The Asian longhorned tick is a known livestock pest, especially in New Zealand, and can transmit a disease called theileriosis to cattle but not to humans. However, the tick has been associated with several other tickborne diseases in humans.
An unfed female is typically 2.0–2.6 mm long and 1.5–1.8 mm wide, and grows to 9.8 mm long and 8.2 mm wide with engorgement. [5] Distinguishing a specimen from other members of the genus Haemaphysalis requires microscopic examination of minor physical characteristics. [6]
The Asian longhorned tick is native to temperate areas of East and Central Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan, as well as Pacific islands including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii, to name a few. [7]
The species was not known to be present on the mainland United States until 9 November 2017, when it was first discovered on a sheep farm in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, although it had been intercepted at U.S. ports on import animals and materials at least a dozen times. [2] The Asian longhorned tick has been found in eleven states, including New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Arkansas, Maryland, Connecticut, and Ohio. [8] [9] [10] [11] Attempts to eradicate the species from New Jersey failed; the tick successfully overwintered and has since become established in the state as an invasive species. [12] [13] [14] The tick may have been present in the eastern US for several years, but only recently detected. [10]
The seasonal feeding and reproductive cycle resembles that of other ticks. The tick can reproduce sexually or by an asexual process called parthenogenesis. The latter exist in northern Japan and Russia, whereas the former exist in southern Japan, southern Korea and southern parts of the former Soviet Union. An aneuploid race capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction capability exists in China. Unfed ticks can survive for close to a year, nymphs and adult females the longest, depending on temperature and humidity. [7] : 6–7
The Asian longhorned tick parasitizes mammals and birds. It spreads quickly in farm animals such as cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, and chickens. Natural infestations have been found on wild animals like bear, deer, foxes and hares, small mammals like ferrets and rats, and birds. It has also been found on cats, dogs, and humans. It is believed to migrate by parasitizing birds, which carry it to new areas. [7] : 4
The Asian longhorned tick can transmit an animal disease called theileriosis to cattle, which can cause considerable blood loss and occasional death of calves, but mainly is important to dairy farmers because of decreased milk production and sheep farmers because of decreased wool quantity and quality. [7] : 4–5
Human diseases such as Lyme spirochetes, spotted fever group rickettsiae, [15] Ehrlichia chaffeensis , and Anaplasma bovis have been detected in H. longicornis. [16] It has been associated with Russian spring-summer encephalitis, Powassan virus, Khasan virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, [7] : 4 Japanese spotted fever, [17] and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. [12] Human pathogens have not so far been detected in the Asian longhorned tick in the US. [10]
Dermacentor variabilis, also known as the American dog tick or wood tick, is a species of tick that is known to carry bacteria responsible for several diseases in humans, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. It is one of the best-known hard ticks. Diseases are spread when it sucks blood from the host. It may take several days for the host to experience symptoms.
Wilhelm Burgdorfer was a Swiss-American scientist and an international leader in the field of medical entomology. He discovered the bacterial pathogen that causes Lyme disease, a spirochete named Borrelia burgdorferi in his honor.
A canine vector-borne disease (CVBD) is one of "a group of globally distributed and rapidly spreading illnesses that are caused by a range of pathogens transmitted by arthropods including ticks, fleas, mosquitoes and phlebotomine sandflies." CVBDs are important in the fields of veterinary medicine, animal welfare, and public health. Some CVBDs are of zoonotic concern.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum is a Gram-negative bacterium that is unusual in its tropism to neutrophils. It causes anaplasmosis in sheep and cattle, also known as tick-borne fever and pasture fever, and also causes the zoonotic disease human granulocytic anaplasmosis.
Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease affecting ruminants, dogs, and horses, and is caused by Anaplasma bacteria. Anaplasmosis is an infectious but not contagious disease. Anaplasmosis can be transmitted through mechanical and biological vector processes. Anaplasmosis can also be referred to as "yellow bag" or "yellow fever" because the infected animal can develop a jaundiced look. Other signs of infection include weight loss, diarrhea, paleness of the skin, aggressive behavior, and high fever.
Ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne bacterial infection, caused by bacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae, genera Ehrlichia and Anaplasma. These obligate intracellular bacteria infect and kill white blood cells.
Ehrlichia is a genus of Rickettsiales bacteria that are transmitted to vertebrates by ticks. These bacteria cause the disease ehrlichiosis, which is considered zoonotic, because the main reservoirs for the disease are animals.
Theileria is a genus of parasites that belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa, and is closely related to Plasmodium. Two Theileria species, T. annulata and T. parva, are important cattle parasites. T. annulata causes tropical theileriosis and T. parva causes East Coast fever. Theileria species are transmitted by ticks. The genomes of T. orientalis Shintoku, Theileria equi WA, Theileria annulata Ankara and Theileria parva Muguga have been sequenced and published.
Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, is a chiefly European species of hard-bodied tick. It may reach a length of 11 mm (0.43 in) when engorged with a blood meal, and can transmit both bacterial and viral pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.
Ehrlichia chaffeensis is an obligate intracellular, Gram-negative species of Rickettsiales bacteria. It is a zoonotic pathogen transmitted to humans by the lone star tick. It is the causative agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis.
Ehrlichia ewingii is a species of rickettsiales bacteria. It has recently been associated with human infection, and can be detected via PCR serological testing. The name Ehrlichia ewingii was proposed in 1992.
Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) is a tick-borne, infectious disease caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum, an obligate intracellular bacterium that is typically transmitted to humans by ticks of the Ixodes ricinus species complex, including Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus in North America. These ticks also transmit Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.
Human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis is a form of ehrlichiosis associated with Ehrlichia chaffeensis. This bacterium is an obligate intracellular pathogen affecting monocytes and macrophages.
Rhipicephalus sanguineus, commonly called the brown dog tick, kennel tick, or pantropical dog tick, is a species of tick found worldwide, but more commonly in warmer climates. This species is unusual among ticks in that its entire lifecycle can be completed indoors. The brown dog tick is easily recognized by its reddish-brown color, elongated body shape, and hexagonal basis capituli. Adults are 2.28 to 3.18 mm in length and 1.11 to 1.68 mm in width. They do not have ornamentation on their backs.
Haemaphysalis concinna is a common rodent tick species that originally predominantly occurred in Russia and Eastern Europe, but is also known from Japan, China, Germany and France.
Babesia bovis is an Apicomplexan single-celled parasite of cattle which occasionally infects humans. The disease it and other members of the genus Babesia cause is a hemolytic anemia known as babesiosis and colloquially called Texas cattle fever, redwater or piroplasmosis. It is transmitted by bites from infected larval ticks of the order Ixodida. It was eradicated from the United States by 1943, but is still present in Mexico and much of the world's tropics. The chief vector of Babesia species is the southern cattle fever tick Rhipicephalus microplus.
Cattle tick can refer to any of several species of ticks that parasitize cattle, including:
Ticks of domestic animals directly cause poor health and loss of production to their hosts. Ticks also transmit numerous kinds of viruses, bacteria, and protozoa between domestic animals. These microbes cause diseases which can be severely debilitating or fatal to domestic animals, and may also affect humans. Ticks are especially important to domestic animals in tropical and subtropical countries, where the warm climate enables many species to flourish. Also, the large populations of wild animals in warm countries provide a reservoir of ticks and infective microbes that spread to domestic animals. Farmers of livestock animals use many methods to control ticks, and related treatments are used to reduce infestation of companion animals.
Anaplasma bovis is gram negative, obligate intracellular organism, which can be found in wild and domestic ruminants, and potentially a wide variety of other species. It is one of the last species of the Family Anaplasmaceae to be formally described. It preferentially infects host monocytes, and is often diagnosed via blood smears, PCR, and ELISA. A. bovis is not currently considered zoonotic, and does not frequently cause serious clinical disease in its host. This organism is transmitted by tick vectors, so tick bite prevention is the mainstay of A. bovis control, although clinical infections can be treated with tetracyclines. This organism has a global distribution, with infections noted in many areas, including Korea, Japan, Europe, Brazil, Africa, and North America.
Rhipicephalus annulatus, the cattle tick, is a hard-bodied tick of the genus Rhipicephalus. It is also known as North American cattle tick, North American Texas fever tick, and Texas fever tick.