More rare ticks found in New Jersey

As if having rats running around New Jersey towns wasn’t enough, another rare tick has been found in Monmouth County.

New Jersey was the first state in which the Longhorned tick was found. It is not native to the US. While your livestock is more likely to suffer than you are, it can have some nasty effects on humans. According to Forbes.com, the Longhorned tick (also known as the East Asian tick) can transmit a variety of diseases, including something called STFS (severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome) that can lead to gastrointestinal issues, low platelet count, fever and, in about 30% of the those infected, death.

Adam Hochran notes in his story on NJ1015.com that all the ticks found in New Jersey have tested negative for human pathogens. They were first spotted about a year ago in Hunterdon County when a woman covered in thousands of ticks came into the Hunterdon County Health Office. It has also been found in Bergen, Hunterdon, Union, Middlesex and Mercer counties. Since debuting in New Jersey, the East Asian/Longhorned tick has been spotted in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

State Agriculture officials would not say where in Monmouth County the most recent tick was discovered.

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