The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) confirmed the presence of the Longhorned tick in Arkansas. The confirmed Longhorned tick came from a dog in Benton County and was submitted through a research project at Oklahoma State University
The Longhorned tick is an exotic East Asian tick associated with bacterial and viral tickborne diseases of animals and humans in other parts of the world. This tick is considered by USDA to be a serious threat to livestock because heavy tick infestations may cause stunted growth, decreased production and animal deaths. In other countries, the Longhorned tick has been implicated in causing disease in humans, including severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. Like deer-ticks, the nymphs of the Longhorned tick are very small (resembling tiny spiders) and can easily go unnoticed on animals and people. This tick is known to infest a wide range of species and has the potential to infect multiple North American wildlife species, humans, dogs, cats, and livestock.
People can protect themselves, their children, and pets from ticks by using standard prevention methods such as wearing Environmental Protection Agency approved repellents, performing tick checks, and tucking in clothing