The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry announced Wednesday that Oklahoma is the 20th state to confirm the presence of the Asian longhorned tick . Prior to 2017, the ticks were exclusive to the eastern hemisphere, in countries such as China, Japan and Korea. Their presence was first detected in the United States in New Jersey.
The ticks can carry both human and animal diseases. In large numbers they may cause severe anemia in animals they infest, the state agency said in a release. An investigation will be conducted to try to determine how the ticks arrived in Oklahoma and how widespread they are.
“We encourage all livestock owners to closely monitor their livestock,” the agency said. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry maintains a website with information about threats posed by invasive species. According to the U.
S. Department of Agriculture, Asian longhorned ticks are parthenogenetic, meaning females can reproduce without mating, essentially cloning themselves by laying up to 3,000 eggs at a time. The ticks can cause distress when they latch onto hosts in large numbers.
They may spread theileria, a disease that can cause severe anemia resulting in death in cows. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts The ticks have been found on other hosts, as well, including dogs, cats, horses, white-tailed deer and Canada geese. Asian longhorned ticks collected in Penn.