Longhorned Tick Turns Up In Mercer County

The rare and exotic tick that has been found in other parts of New Jersey has made its way to Mercer County, authorities with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture announced on Tuesday.

It is the fourth county in which state officials have confirmed the presence of the rare East Asian tick, also known as the longhorned tick or bush tick. It has been found in northern Mercer County, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) confirmed to state officials.

New ticks were also found in Hunterdon, Union and Middlesex counties. This particular tick infestation appears to date back to 2013, as the NVSL confirmed a tick taken from a dog in Union County that year was also a Longhorned tick.

The new ticks that were confirmed on Tuesday were collected as part of the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology’s “Tick Blitz” that took place earlier this month. As part of the blitz, ticks were taken from each of New Jersey’s 21 counties. It doesn’t appear to have turned up in any of the other 17 counties in the state, according to the NVSL.

“The Rutgers-led Tick Blitz has provided rapid statewide information on the distribution of Longhorned ticks and other tick species across New Jersey by leveraging the unique relationship between Rutgers Center for Vector Biology and county mosquito control programs,” Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences Executive Dean Robert M. Goodman said. “Statewide information is essential to develop assessments of risk and the best strategies for control.”

The Longhorn ticks that have been found thus far haven’t proven dangerous to humans or animals, but this species can carry several bacterial and viral diseases, and has been associated with spotted fever rickettsioses, authorities said.

The tick was initially located in November in Hunterdon County. Since then, it was discovered at a park in Union County and at Rutgers University–New Brunswick's Cook Campus farm in Middlesex County. The tick from 2013 was re-examined by Rutgers University staff and then sent to the NVSL for confirmation. It remains unknown how the tick first arrived in the state.

The tick is dark-brown and grows to the size of a pea when fully engorged, according to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Like deer ticks, the nymphs of the Longhorned tick are very small (resembling tiny spiders) and can easily go unnoticed on animals and people. They are known to infest a wide range of species including humans, dogs, cats, and livestock.

Local, state, and federal animal health agencies, as well as Rutgers, are working together to identify the range of the ticks and develop a plan to eliminate them from localized areas and prevent unintentional spread of the tick.

“If we find ticks in a specific area, we will do what we can to eliminate them from those known sites of infestation,” New Jersey Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Manoel Tamassia said. “We will work to continue to identify the areas of the state where the tick is, so we can help prevent its spread.”

As part of the investigation, counties have set up drop off locations where people can submit ticks they find on themselves, their pets, livestock or on wildlife. Information on these locations and how to submit a tick can be found on the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s website at http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/divisions/ah/.

A tick line has also been established to leave a message if a tick is found and there is uncertainty about what the next steps are. The number is 1-833-NEWTICK (1-833-639-8425).

Image via NJ Dept of Agriculture: Full and adult tick