Disease-carrying coastal tick established in Illinois

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf coast tick)female (left) and male (right)
Photo credit: Emily Struckhoff, INHS Medical Entomology Lab

The Gulf Coast tick is usually found in the Southeast along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, but researchers at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) and Southern Illinois University (SIU) have new evidence of the Gulf Coast tick becoming established in Illinois. They also have found that it often harbors a pathogen that can make people sick. 

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