The University of Kentucky has reported that the Asian longhorned tick has appeared in the state. An invasive tick from Australia and East Asia, the arachnids have been reported in 10 states and their population is steadily moving northwest. Their rapid rise in numbers is because Asian longhorned tick can reproduce without mating; the female lays thousands of eggs at a time.
First confirmed in the United States in 2017, it was discovered in the Bluegrass in Martin County in 2018; the tick is expected to make its way into Ohio soon. Though bites from the tick have been known to cause serious illness to people and animals in other countries, there have been no illness found on the Asian longhorned ticks collected in the U.S.