Association of the invasiveHaemaphysalis longicornistick with vertebrate hosts, other native tick vectors, and tick-borne pathogens in New York City

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Haemaphysalis longicornis</jats:italic>, the Asian longhorned tick, is an invasive ixodid tick that has rapidly spread across the northeastern and southeastern regions of the United States since first reported in 2017. The emergence of <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> presents a potential threat for livestock, wildlife, and human health as the host associations and vector potential of this invasive pest in the United States are poorly understood. Previous field data from the United States has shown that <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> was not associated with natural populations of small mammals or birds, but they show a preference for medium sized mammals in laboratory experiments. Therefore, medium and large sized mammals were sampled on Staten Island, New York to determine <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> host associations and vector potential for a range of human and veterinary pathogens. A total of 97 hosts were sampled and five species of tick (<jats:italic>Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis, H. longicornis, Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes cookei</jats:italic>) were found feeding concurrently on these hosts. <jats:italic>Haemaphysalis longicornis</jats:italic> was found in the highest proportions compared to other native tick species on raccoons (55.4%), Virginia opossums (28.9%), and white-tailed deer (11.5%). Tissue, blood, and engorged larvae were tested for 17 different pathogens using a nanoscale PCR platform. Infection with five pathogens (<jats:italic>Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia</jats:italic> spp., <jats:italic>Mycoplasma haemocanis</jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Bartonella</jats:italic> spp.) was detected in host samples, but no pathogens were found in any larval samples. These results suggest that although large and medium sized mammals feed large numbers of <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> ticks in the environment there is presently a low potential for <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> to acquire pathogens from these wildlife hosts.</jats:p><jats:sec><jats:title>Highlights</jats:title><jats:list list-type="bullet"><jats:list-item><jats:p><jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> were sampled from seven genera of large and medium-sized mammals</jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Raccoons, opossums, and white-tailed deer fed a large proportion of <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic></jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p><jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> did not acquire pathogens through co-feeding with native tick vectors</jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Host species were infected with a range of pathogens of human and veterinary concern</jats:p></jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Host-derived <jats:italic>H. longicornis</jats:italic> engorged larvae were not infected with any pathogens</jats:p></jats:list-item></jats:list></jats:sec>

Integrating tick density and park visitor behaviors to assess the risk of tick exposure in urban parks on Staten Island, New York

“…Consistent with previous studies reporting heterogenous tick densities across parks [20][21][22][23]32], Conference House, on the southern tip of Staten Island, was the most hazardous park to encounter ticks; however, the fewest individuals visited this park, and the main tick present was H. longicornis, which does not frequently bite humans or transmit known pathogens to humans in the United States [49][50][51]. This tick is a new introduction to Staten Island and may become more abundant in other Staten Island parks in the future.…”

The wild life of ticks: using passive surveillance to determine the distribution and wildlife host range of ticks and the exoticHaemaphysalis longicornis, 2010-2021

“…Two species of Haemaphysalis were detected: the exotic Asian longhorned tick H. longicornis (n=451), and the native rabbit tick, H. leporispalustris (n=1). Several studies that have been conducted in the U.S. after the initial detection of H. longicornis have documented a broad host range for H. longicornis; however, these studies were each focused in relatively small geographic areas (e.g., Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, or Virginia) [33,35,43,45,59]. Our passive geographically broad-scale surveillance for H. longicornis was an effective method for providing new and rapid data on the distribution of this tick in the U.S.…”

“…Currently published surveillance studies for H. longicornis in the U.S. are limited geographically and as a result are unlikely to capture the potential wildlife host range utilized by H. longicornis [35,40,41,[43][44][45]. In addition, habitat suitability models primarily focusing on climatic and geographic variables to predict the potential range of H. longicornis have been reported, but they were built around limited datasets of H. longicornis occurrences (rather than established population data) and therefore may not accurately depict all suitable habitats in the U.S. [46][47][48].…”

First Hemispheric Report of Invasive Tick Species Haemaphysalis Punctata Canestrini Et Fanzago, 1878, First State Report of Haemaphysalis Longicornis Neumann, and Range Expansion of Native Tick Species in Rhode Island, USA

“…1). The ability of this species to reproduce parthenogenetically and the large population of white-tailed deer, a preferred host of H. longicornis [14,27,28], may facilitate the spread of this invasive tick on Block Island. Very few pathogens have been recovered from H. longicornis in some invaded regions of the US [29] and their ability to vector native pathogens is still under investigation [11,12].…”