Asian Longhorned Tick Project : USDA ARS

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Asian Longhorned Tick Project

Research leaders: Marie-Claude Bon, Javid Kashefi

Presentation & context

Haemaphysalis longicornis (Photo by Kashefi)

The Asian longhorned tick (ALT) (Haemaphysalis longicornis Newmann) is an invasive tick that primarily impacts livestock health but may also spread pathogens that affect human health. Though ALT does not usually bite humans, it has the potential to amplify tick-borne diseases by spreading pathogens to other ticks that more commonly pose threats to humans. ALT is native to the Far East (Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea) and was introduced to New Zealand, Australia, and several Pacific islands. ALT was initially found on a sheep in New Jersey in 2017 and since then ALT has been reported in 96 counties in 12 states across the eastern U.S. Its range appears to expand rapidly, partly because one female can produce thousands of offspring without mating (they can reproduce parthenogenetically) and only one tick is needed to create a population in a new area. ALT has been reported on humans, domestic animals like dogs, cats, cattle, horses, goats and sheep and wildlife such as white-tailed deer, opossums, coyotes, gray foxes, groundhogs and raccoons in the United States. At this early stage of the invasion, a classical biological control approach has recently been considered by USDA -ARS as one way to naturally regulate the population size of ALT.

Research components

Since 2021, EBCL USDA ARS is involved into a research project on biological control of ALT in collaboration with the USDA ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory and the National Institute of Veterinary Research in Hanoi, Vietnam. EBCL objectives are to conduct foreign explorations in Northern Vietnam (Hanoi region?) to find natural enemies of ALT (photos). The populations of ALT collected as well as the assemblage of natural enemies associated with ALT will be further characterized using molecular barcoding and metabarcoding approaches.

Collection of Asian Longhorned Tick in it’s native range (Photos by Kashefi)