Ticks from distant countries are turning up in the United States after hitching rides on international travelers, a new study found.
The study, published Friday in the journal iScience, documented seven nonnative ticks that were carried by humans to Connecticut from 2019 to 2023. The little arachnids came from Belize, Costa Rica, Germany, Guatemala, Poland, Scotland and Tanzania.
“The main finding is that we are facing an increasing risk of invasive ticks in the United States,” said Goudarz Molaei, a study author who is a medical entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He added that the rate of unintentional introductions of nonnative species appeared to be rising.
That could increase the number of tick-borne pathogens in the United States — which, the study notes, was already on the rise — and heighten disease risks for people across the country.
In recent decades, ticks of all kinds have been flourishing in the United States. Some originated abroad, like the Asian long-horned tick.
The arachnids have been traveling domestically, too. Ticks from the Gulf Coast are moving north. So is the lone star tick, a southern bug whose bite may trigger an allergy to red meat.
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