German researchers have discovered several tropical ticks living in the country and are worried by their presence.
Scientists registered a total of seven specimens of the genus Hyalomma in Lower Saxony and Hesse this year, the University of Hohenheim and the Institute for Microbiology of the German Federal Armed Forces in Munich announced on Tuesday.
Only two tropical ticks have been found in Germany before, one in 2015 and one in 2017.
The researchers fear that the ticks may become a permanent feature in Germany as temperatures rise. Their presence was put down to the hot, dry summer in Germany, as they prefer a lower humidity than the ticks usually found in this country.
Read more: Counting critters: Germans invited to join first insect census
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Beware of ticks!
There are approximately 900 tick species across the world. The eight-legged crawlies are not insects, but rather belong to the Acari, which also include mites. They live in shrubs or grass and are just waiting for a bloody meal to walk past. The most common tick in Germany is the castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus).
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Sting and suck
Ticks use their front legs and mouths to dig into their victim's skin. They pick spots where the skin is especially thin and the capillaries are right under the surface. The main part of their diet is not blood, however, but lymph, which leaks from the wound.
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Tick saliva with healing powers?
Many ticks transfer bacteria or viruses that can lead to serious illnesses. If you get bitten by a tick in Germany, you could contract Lyme disease or Encephalitis. But the small animals can also do good. Oxford researchers have recently found out that a protein from the tick's saliva can block infections, which makes it a potential cure for a certain type of heart disease.
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Endangered elks
Despite this discovery, ticks are still overwhelmingly negative. Elks, for example, suffer an increased number of ticks because of shorter and warmer winters in the eastern US. Last winter, 70 percent of elk calves there died - because they were sucked empty by ticks, according to researchers at the University of New Hampshire.
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Anti-parasite symbiosis
In Africa, birds and mammals work together to get rid of ticks. This yellow-billed oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) is eating the ticks off a warthog. It's a win-win: the warthog gets rid of the bloodsuckers and the bird gets a delicious meal.
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Tobacco to turn off ticks
Birds get ticks, too. The house finch has developed a strategy to fight ticks. A study in the Avian Biology journal has shown that breeding house finches use cigarette stubs to "proof" their nests. The nicotine wards off parasites, but sadly the neurotoxin can also have negative effects on the chicks.
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Ticks - a plague for humans and animals alike
Little hope of improvement
There's currently no plan for getting rid of the ticks for good, and it wouldn't be an easy task either. The little parasites are quite robust and can survive a cycle in the washing machine as well as time in the freezer. If you have a tick bite, make sure your encephalitis vaccination is up-to-date.
Author: Sophia Wagner (/cb)
Five times bigger
The Hyalomma ticks can grow to as long as two centimeters (0.8 inches), substantially larger than the local common wood tick (Ixodes ricinus). They can be recognized by their unusual size and their striped legs.
The ticks were all found on farm animals, mainly horses. This is because horse owners tend to come into close contact with their animals when grooming them.
One specimen contained a dangerous bacterium, a known pathogen of tick-borne fever. Hyalomma species can also carry Crimean Congo fever, which has not yet occurred in Germany.
The tropical ticks found this year belong to the species Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma rufipes. They were probably introduced via migratory birds.
Expect more bites
Experts have warned people to expect more tick bite diseases this year, with a mild winter, warm spring, and hot summer providing good breeding conditions.
Clothing and tick repellents are the only effective preventative measures against ticks.
aw/jm (dpa, AFP, epd)
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