HI folks, i read abut this in a hunters magazine yesterday at work.  this
tic is a possible threat to all wildlife animals and domesticated pets as
well.  it is called the african tortoise tick and like its name suggests,
it has a tortoise shell look to its body(and about 3 times bigger than our
nasty little parasites).  evidently it entered in the u.s. through imported
snakes and tortoises going to petshops and zoos..no requirements on
inspecting importing reptiles yet so the dept.  of ag's animal and plant
health inspection survice is proposing to do so now.  it has been found in
15 counties of florida, and spotted in texas and oklahoma.  from what the
article has said, the adult tic feeds mainly on the turtle and snake BUT
the young tics will feed from anything...as indicated by the finding of
tics in these areas.  according to the article, this nasty bug could
threaten american deer, cattle, sheep, and goats and infect with a disease
called heartwater.  obviously, it would extend to other pet populations
too.  i wanted to post this so that people living in this area happen to
find some of these bugs, they will know what it is.  now, you say, what is
heartwater disease??  i don't know but i'm counting on some other fmler's
out there to follow up and correct me or elaborate on this.  thanks for
reading this and, as always, take care---
 
malissa dillion
[Posted in FML issue 2737]