Asian Longhorned Tick Makes Georgia Reappearance

Haylie Shipp

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has announced this month that the Asian Longhorned Tick species has been found on multiple cattle on one Hall County farm. It’s the first confirmation of the tick this year following detection of that tick species on a cow last fall on a Pickens County farm.

UGA Entomologist, Dr. Nancy Hinkle, says that, “The Asian Longhorned Tick looks very similar to other ticks in Georgia, so we don't expect people to be able to distinguish them. One distinctive aspect of Asian Longhorned Ticks is they tend to occur in large numbers. If an animal has one tick it's probably our common Lone Star Tick. If a cow shows up with hundreds of ticks, we're going to be very suspicious that we're looking at an Asian Longhorned Tick infestation.”

Now, one female can produce 1,000 to 2,000 eggs at one time without mating. This is how a single animal could find itself hosting hundreds of ticks.

APHIS explains that an individual animal with such a heavy infestation of ticks will be stressed and experience reduced growth and production. A severe infestation could potentially kill the animal from excessive blood loss.

Regardless of the type of tick, the GDA recommending that livestock producers or backyards poultry growers work with their veterinarian and/or UGA Cooperative Extension agent to develop an appropriate strategy to fight any infestation.