MISSOURI CITY, Texas — Researchers at the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine have recently discovered invasive longhorned ticks in Boone County, Missouri for the first time. The discovery of the longhorned tick, which has already caused the loss of millions of dollars in agricultural revenue to livestock producers worldwide, indicates a potential looming problem for cattle health in mid-Missouri. This tick species can also potentially transmit a variety of pathogens to humans.
“These longhorned ticks have the potential to transmit theileriosis, a disease that kills red blood cells in cattle,” said Rosalie Ierardi, a clinical instructor at the MU Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) and doctoral student at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, who last year discovered these same longhorned ticks in northern Missouri.
