by LAUREN BRIGMAN
Saturday, July 14th 2018
MILL SPRING, N.C. (WLOS) — POLK COUNTY, N.C. ( https://wlos.com/news/local/invasive-tick-species-disease-carrier-found-in-tryon" rel="nofollow - WLOS )
- An invasive, non-native tick species has turned up in the mountains,
and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture is urging livestock
producers and residents to be on the lookout.
State agriculture officials say multiple https://wlos.com/news/local/longhorned-tick-called-serious-livestock-pest-found-in-polk-county" rel="nofollow - longhorned ticks were discovered on a possum at the Tryon International Equestrian Center.
The
state veterinarian for North Carolina, Dr. Doug Meckes, says the
discovery was made when officials "had an opportunity to revisit some
tick samples that were taken last spring at the site of the World
Equestrian Games in Tryon."
MILL SPRING, N.C. (WLOS) — POLK COUNTY, N.C. ( https://wlos.com/news/local/invasive-tick-species-disease-carrier-found-in-tryon" rel="nofollow - WLOS )
- An invasive, non-native tick species has turned up in the mountains,
and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture is urging livestock
producers and residents to be on the lookout.
State agriculture officials say multiple https://wlos.com/news/local/longhorned-tick-called-serious-livestock-pest-found-in-polk-county" rel="nofollow - longhorned ticks were discovered on a possum at the Tryon International Equestrian Center.
The
state veterinarian for North Carolina, Dr. Doug Meckes, says the
discovery was made when officials "had an opportunity to revisit some
tick samples that were taken last spring at the site of the World
Equestrian Games in Tryon."
What they found was "a single opossum that had seven ticks."
State agriculture officials say this type of tick might carry several
diseases and reproduces quickly. "This is asexual reproduction, which
really makes this a unique species," adds Meckes.
Meckes says measures are being taken to keep animals that come to Polk County and those who live there safe.
"Fortunately,
this tick is susceptible to all of the measures that we'd already
planned on taking in Polk County, to prevent the spread of ticks or the
spread of disease during the time of the World Equestrian Games."
News 13 spoke with Michael Herman, the farm manager of https://caitlynfarms.com/about/" rel="nofollow - Caitlyn Farms in Mill Spring , about how he takes precautions to protect his herd of cattle from pests.
Prevention measures for this farm include cattle rubs, insecticide tags and spray, plus a daily mineral feed.
Luckily,
Meckes says prevention programs like the one at Caitlyn Farms works.
"Whatever you're doing as a livestock producer, whatever you're doing to
protect your family, continue to do that."
https://wlos.com/news/local/longhorned-tick-called-serious-livestock-pest-found-in-polk-county" rel="nofollow - State
agriculture officials say the longhorned tick is an exotic, East Asian
species. They say it has not been linked to any human infection in the
U.S. so far.
North Carolina is now the fifth state to have
this tick. It has also been identified in Arkansas, New Jersey, Virginia
and West Virginia.
Source: http://wlos.com/news/local/invasive-tick-species-disease-carrier-found-in-tryon" rel="nofollow - http://wlos.com/news/local/invasive-tick-species-disease-carrier-found-in-tryon