The University of Maine and state officials have confirmed the presence of the Asian longhorned tick for the first time in Maine.
The invasive Asian longhorned tick feeds on livestock, wildlife, pets and people, but it's not clear if it carries diseases commonly found on other tick species in Maine.
Griffin Dill, director of the UMaine Extension Tick Lab, said the tick has been found in 20 other states, including Connecticut and Rhode Island, where the species has become an established population.
"It has not yet been found in New Hampshire, so making that leap from southern New England all the way up to Maine leads me to believe that it's possible that it was brought in on a migratory bird, or someone's pet that had been out of state," he said.
The tick was found in Cumberland County.
Dill said people should take the same precautions they would ordinarily take to protect themselves from other tick species, such as wearing long sleeves, using insect repellant and conducting tick checks after returning indoors.
The species can be found in places that might be unexpected habitat for ticks, Dill cautioned.
"They can be found in open, exposed areas like lawns and pastures and even marginal habitat around buildings, where there's gravel and other things, where we just wouldn't really necessarily expect to be seeing ticks," he said.
Unlike most other species, the Asian longhorned tick can reproduce without mating, creating infestations from one individual, Dill added.
People who have collected tick samples can send them to the UMaine Extension Tick Lab for further study, and Dill said that state and university specialists are expanding monitoring efforts to understand the potential spread of the Asian longhorned tick in Maine.
