humankind have long been deter from tolerating the epenthetic behaviour of the tick . These pathogen - ridden arachnid latch onto their hosts for a parentage snack bar while transmitting a variety show of diseases through their bites . Typically , tick in infested areas hold off for their hosts to tolerate or go on by and trust a bare leg presents itself .
But not all tick are so inactive . In the Netherlands , there have beenreportedsightings ofHyalomma marginatum , a kind of Andre the Giant of tick that are twice the size of a more usual coinage , Ixodes ricinus(sheep tick ) . Worse , they do n’t sit out of work . If they want to bite you , they ’ll run after you .
The non - native species has been spot twice in the retiring month . One was in Drenthe , a state in the northeastern part of the rural area , and the other wasfoundin Achterhoek . They measure up to 0.2 inches but can acquire to 0.7 in when engorged with the line of descent of their hosts . The ticks are known to hide in copse . When they spot a potential meal , they run toward it . H. marginatumcan observe a victim from up to 30 feet away and track it for 10 minutes before abandoning pursuit .
The specie is typically found in northern Africa and Asia as well as parts of southern and easterly Europe . How did they get to the Netherlands ? Researchers theorize they hitchhiked on migrant raspberry . And while their coming into court have been scarce , they ’re still a case for fear . H. marginatumis known to harbor the virus that have Crimean - Congo haemorrhagic febrility , which lists uncontrolled bleeding among its undesirable symptom . The ticks , which were collected for analysis , test electronegative for that disease but one was positive for the bacteriaRickettsia aeschlimannii , which stimulate patched fever .
There have been no sighting ofH. marginatumin the U.S. , but aboriginal ticks stay a constant vexation . If you ’re outdoors , it ’s always a good idea to monitor yourself for ticks and takestepsto remove them safely .
[ h / tLiveScience ]
