Share this Article
You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license.
The invasive population of Asian longhorned ticks in the United States likely began with three or more self-cloning females from northeastern Asia, according to a new study.
Asian longhorned ticks outside the US can carry debilitating diseases. In the US and elsewhere they can threaten livestock and pets. The new study in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health sheds new light on the origin of these ticks and how they are spreading across the country.
While additional samples from the ticks native range are needed to pinpoint more exactly the source of the US introduction, our data suggest that they came from one or more locations in northeastern Asiaeither through a single introduction of at least three ticks or as multiple introductions from different populations, says lead author Andrea M. Egizi, a visiting professor in the entomology department at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and a research scientist with the Monmouth County Tick-borne Diseases Laboratory that the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology hosts.
In 2017, the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology and other researchers detected an infestation of the Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis), which is native to East Asia, in New Jersey. It was the first time established populations of this species had been detected in the US. Subsequent investigations found the tick to be widespread in the eastern US. Researchers discovered it has been present in New Jersey since at least 2013.
Although this species transmits serious illnesses to people and animals in other countries, experts dont know whether the tick populations in the United States will make people sick, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The species has two forms: one with males and females, and one with self-cloning females that lay eggs without needing to mate, a process called parthenogenesis. The self-cloning form, free from the need to look for mates, is especially likely to thrive and spread. A single female can establish a fast-growing population. This type entered Australia and New Zealand in the early 1900s, and now causes significant losses in the cattle industry.
The researchers enlisted about 25 collaborators at 20 institutions to get samples of Asian longhorned ticks across the US and internationally, and used gene sequencing to detect genetic similarities and differences among various populations.
Their findings indicate that at least three individual ticks, from self-cloning populations, were brought to the United States, which explains why all adult Asian longhorned ticks found in the US so far have been female. Overall, US ticks are more likely to have come from an East Asian country (or countries) than from Australia and New Zealand.
As part of the study, the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services found evidence that these ticks traveled within the United States on wildlife as well as through the transport of pets or livestock.
One thing we uncovered is the ease with which pets, especially dogs, can accidentally help ticks cross international borders and state lines, says senior author Dina M. Fonseca, a professor and director of the Center for Vector Biology.
Many countries require dogs to be treated for ticks and other parasites before entering the country, but the United States does not. We urge greater awareness of this issue to prevent future exotic tick introductions.
Source: Rutgers University
View original post here:
Invasive ticks are spreading without any males - Futurity: Research News
- What is Cloning? - Learn Genetics - December 12th, 2016 [December 12th, 2016]
- Pros and Cons of Cloning - Buzzle - December 21st, 2016 [December 21st, 2016]
- Cloning/Embryonic Stem Cells - National Human Genome Research ... - December 22nd, 2016 [December 22nd, 2016]
- Is human cloning wrong? | Debate.org - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Cloning - Science Daily - December 29th, 2016 [December 29th, 2016]
- Cloning - The New York Times - January 4th, 2017 [January 4th, 2017]
- Mammoth - Wikipedia - January 24th, 2017 [January 24th, 2017]
- Molecular Cloning: Basics and Applications | Protocol - January 25th, 2017 [January 25th, 2017]
- Beware Of 'Facebook Cloning' | 9news.com - 9NEWS.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Facebook scam lets hackers clone your account and STEAL money ... - Express.co.uk - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Beware of 'Facebook Cloning' | KGW.com - kgw.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Beware of Facebook 'cloning' scam - USA TODAY - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Facebook cloning debunked - The i newspaper online iNews - iNews - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Don't fall for this Facebook cloning scam | WFLA.com - WFLA - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- 20 years after Dolly the sheep, human cloning is no closer - Genetic Literacy Project - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Don't fall for this Facebook cloning scam | WDTN - WDTN - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- This Crab Clones Its Allies by Ripping Them in Half - The Atlantic - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Boffins create quantum cloning machine to intercept 'secure' messages - The INQUIRER - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Hair Cloning & Multiplication | Bernstein Medical - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Crustacean Cloning - ScienceBlog.com (blog) - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Watch out for this crazy Facebook cloning scam! - Komando - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Steve Bannon's Unproduced Movie About Cloning, Nazis, and Walt Disney Sounds Nuts - Gizmodo India - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Quantum Cloning Machine Reveals Clues That Could Protect Against Hacking - Photonics.com - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Steve Bannon wanted to make a movie about cloning, abortion, and Nazis with Mel Gibson - A.V. Club (blog) - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Police investigating recent reports of credit card cloning in Aiken ... - Aiken Standard - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Steve Bannon's Unproduced Movie About Cloning, Nazis, and Walt ... - Gizmodo - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Phone cloning - Wikipedia - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Gang arrested for cloning debit cards, stealing money - The Hindu - The Hindu - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Drive cloning in Windows 10 with free tools - Computerworld - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Cloning - The Hastings Center - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Scientists Are Close to Cloning a Woolly Mammoth - Popular Mechanics - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Antiquities Minister inaugurates first Pharaonic cloning center in Luxor - Egypt Independent - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- 20 years after Dolly: Everything you always wanted to know about ... - Source - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- 20 years after Dolly: Everything you always wanted to know about the cloned sheep and what came next - New Delhi Times - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- 20 years after Dolly: Everything you always wanted to know about ... - The Conversation US - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Must reads: Populism, sexism, cloning, and rudeness - GlobalComment.com - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- More lessons from Dolly the sheepis a clone really born at age ... - Phys.Org - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- 15 Animals That Have Been Successfully Cloned by Scientists - Interesting Engineering - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Facebook does it again. WhatsApp launches revamped Status, cloning Snapchat - Catch News - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- It's Been 20 Years Since We Cloned A Sheep. Why Haven't We Done The Same With Humans? - GOOD Magazine - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Reviving woolly mammoths will take more than two years - BBC News - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- 20 years after Dolly the sheep's debut, Americans remain skeptical of cloning - Pew Research Center - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Another cloning success shows technology being used by everyday graziers - ABC Online - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- 20 Years After Dolly, Where Are We With Cloning? - Inverse - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Pabrai And The Shameless Cloning Portfolio - Seeking Alpha - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- As Clone Conspiracy Ends, the Fates of Two Major Spider-Man Villains Are Revealed - Gizmodo - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- 20 years after Dolly the sheep, potential of cloning remains unclear - CNN - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- More lessons from Dolly the sheep: Is a clone really born at age zero ... - Salon - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- 20th Anniversary of Dolly the Cloned Sheep | Men's Health - Men's Health - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- The Angels had two No. 97s on the basepaths, may be cloning their players - MLB.com - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- 20 Years After Dolly: Cloning Past, Present and Future - KQED - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Facts About Cloning - Live Science - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Is Max cloning Tracey the barmaid to take over Walford in ... - Metro - Metro - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- We know Dolly the sheep was cloned 20 years ago, but how old was she at birth? - Washington Post - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- 'Miracle of nature' Scientists a step closer to HUMAN CLONING after creating mouse embryos - Express.co.uk - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Waxhaw police: Man charged with credit card cloning - WSOC Charlotte - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Facebook gives zero fucks about cloning Snapchat, adds geostickers in Instagram - TNW - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- This man is cloning old-growth redwoods and planting them in safe places (video) - Treehugger - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Police warn of criminals cloning credit cards using stolen information - ABC Action News - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What's the difference? - Windows Central - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Cloning Your VS 2017 Packages - Microsoft - Channel 9 (blog) - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Hair Cloning is Happening - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Woodbury Police Need Your Help In Credit Card Cloning Case - Patch - Patch.com - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Reasons Against Cloning - VIDEOS & ARTICLES - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- B.o.B Talks Conspiracy Theories About 9/11, Snapchat, Cloning, Chemtrails, The Illuminati & More (VIDEO) - AllHipHop (blog) - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- International grifter gets 5 years in prison for Denver credit card cloning scam - The Denver Post - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Send in the clones: Orphan Black, TV's smartest show, is back - The Guardian - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Sorry, 'Jurassic Park' fans: Scientists say dinosaur cloning probably isn't going to happen - Travel+Leisure - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Preparing winemakers for climate change through cloning - ABC Online - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Skimming, cloning become popular in Tulsa - KRMG - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Five Rules For Successful Marijuana Cloning - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Cloning Grapes Will Save Australian Wine - National Geographic Australia - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Hackers caught cloning activist Twitter accounts to spread fake news - The Independent - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Cloning Yourself in Photos or Videos - Fstoppers - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Cloning to the rescue - New Scientist - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Cloning To Revive Abaco Wild Horses - Bahamas Tribune - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- How Close Are We to Successfully Cloning the First Human? - Futurism - June 22nd, 2017 [June 22nd, 2017]
- Magnified: Cloning - The Hawk Eye (blog) - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- Puppies cloned from ears arrive in Russia for genetic research ... - RT - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- Three waiters arrested in Mumbai for fraud and cloning ATM cards ... - Hindustan Times - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]