WBGZ Radio 2/24/2021 |
By Cole Lauterbach - Illinois Radio Network
The Gulf Coast tick, an arachnid known to carry an unpleasant pathogen, may be taking up residence in Illinois.
Typically found in subtropical regions, the tick has recently been found in 14 counties in the southern part of the state, according to Dr. Holly Tuten, vector ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey Medical Entomology Lab.
Tuten said the tick can be found as far south as South America, and it usually lives in environments with higher winter temperatures with more precipitation.
“Its historic range in the United States tends to be across the south, so from Texas out to North Carolina, as far north as Kentucky,” Tuten told the Illinois Radio Network. “So typically the northern edge of this tick’s occurrence is at the northern edge of what’s known as the humid subtropical zone.”