Ticks Are Overrunning CT. What Can Be Done About It?

CONNECTICUT — Those three new invasive species of ticks the bug scientists warned us about have begun to make their presence known in a big, ugly way.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven is reporting established, and growing, populations of the Asian longhorned, lone star and Gulf Coast ticks rubbing spindly elbows with your garden variety versions throughout the state.

Dr. Goudarz Molaei, a research scientist who also directs the CAES Tick Surveillance and Testing Program, is sounding the alarm, but we may be past the point where we can do anything to stop them.

If the tick invasion is happening so fast you need a scorecard, here it is:

The Gulf Coast tick is common in Central and South American countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico, and can also be found in 14 US states, mostly in the south. Amblyomma maculatum can transmit spotted fever, and your dog can get infected by just eating one, and pass on the infection for the rest of their lives.

CAES reported the first established population of the Asian longhorned tick in Fairfield County in September 2020. Haemaphysalis longicornis is an invasive species that was first discovered on a farm in New Jersey in 2017, and has subsequently been found in at least 14 other states.

Previously limited to the southeastern U.S., the lone star tick has been detected in areas of the northeastern U.S. with no previous record of activity for the past couple of decades. Amblyomma americanum is an aggressive human biter with highly irritating bites. It's been reported in established populations in Fairfield and New Haven Counties since 2018, and further establishment in New Haven County was documented in June 2020.

That's where they came from. Where they are now, is here. Why now? Molaei says that climate change is to blame.

In the Good Old Days, before the ice caps started melting, a Connecticut resident could vacation in South America and any warm weather-loving ticks that might have hitched a ride back would be lucky to last the drive up I-95, let alone the New England winter. Now, if the bug survives the trip, "it wouldn't take that long for them to establish a population" in Connecticut, according to Molaei.

Until 2020, the lone star tick had never made it further north than Delaware. Less than a year later in Connecticut, it's in like an eight-legged Flynn.

With the genie out of the bottle and climate change reversal more than just a little out of reach, Molaei told Patch the hammer needs to come down well before baggage claim.

"We need stringent inspection at ports of entry. We have to go beyond what we used to do," Molaei said. He suggested that that customs inspectors need to "step up their game" and not just take a traveler's word that they haven't been exposed to a species of opportunistic tick. He is also calling for "minimum tolerance" for those who even unwittingly bring invasive ticks back stateside.

"If it is proven (that an invasive tick species hitched a ride) there needs to be some ramifications," the scientist said.

What does this all mean for your next scamper through your local tick-invaded woods? Molaei painted a graphic picture:

"In some areas where we have established populations of these tick species, when you enter into a field, it doesn't take five minutes until your entire clothes are covered by the tick species."

Within minutes, the entomologist said he collected nearly 200 tick specimens just on his coveralls.

"Soon it will be a major problem, at least for the livestock industry, and a major pest for humans." Molaei speculated that some of the ticks could "pick up" any number of diseases and carry them to migrate where they are not native.

One bug in particular is keeping him up at nights.

"I am so scared about this Asian long-horned tick," Molaei said. "This tick is so prolific, and I can't imagine, if this tick continues in the way, then what is going to happen to our landscape? Let alone the public health and veterinary implications."