Britain’s long hot summers mean disease-carrying ticks are living longer
Health officials say hotter summers are helping rare Hyalomma ticks moult into adults, raising concern over a virus with a fatality rate of up to 40%.
- Recent heatwaves are allowing Hyalomma ticks to reach adulthood in the UK, a development the UK Health Security Agency is monitoring closely.
- These parasites typically arrive on migratory birds from Africa and the Mediterranean as nymphs, though previously temperatures were too cool for them to moult into adulthood.
- Dr. Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at the UKHSA, noted that while cases remain rare, public health authorities are "starting to pick up a bit more" of these vectors for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
- Milder winters and hotter, drier summers are causing a shift in tick seasonality, with authorities tracking activity through the UKHSA Tick Surveillance Scheme established in 2005.
- Although these climate-sensitive pathogens are emerging, experts emphasize that detection "doesn't mean the tick will survive, and it doesn't necessarily mean it's an infection risk" across Europe.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Disease-carrying ticks ‘living for longer’ in UK thanks to hotter summers
Disease-carrying ticks are living for longer in the UK thanks to heatwaves, an expert has said. Previously, it hasn’t been warm enough for hyalomma ticks to survive into adulthood. While still rare, health officials are ‘starting to pick up a bit more,’ according to Dr Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at the UK Health […]
Ticks Carrying Life-threatening Virus Living Longer In UK Due To Heatwaves, Expert Warns
Hyalomma ticks are the main transmitters of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a tick-borne viral disease with a fatality rate of 10%-40%. Symptoms include fever, dizziness, and nausea – and severely ill patients may experience rapid kidney deterioration and sudden liver failure, the World Health Organisation says. Hyalomma ticks sometimes arrive in the UK by attaching themselves […]
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