The Asian longhorned tick has now been found in 8 States in the U.S., according to health.com. Most recently as close to us as Connecticut earlier this fall, marking the first finding of the pest in New England.

The tick threatens to transmit several serious diseases to people, livestock and wild animals, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control.

August 2017 was the first time the longhorned tick was found in the U.S. when a a sheep in New Jersey was found to be infested with them, according to the health.com article. Since then, at least 53 more reports of the tick from 7 different states have been confirmed, the report states.

According to the CDC, here in America, the tick has been found on both animals as well as humans. So far no reports of any transmitted diseases to humans or animals in the U.S. however in Asia, it is known to carry a dangerous virus that kills 15 percent of the people it bites.

 

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