By NewsDesk @bactiman63
The Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reports (computer translated) identifying a so-called giant tick that was found in Odoorn in the province of Drenthe on 13 July as a female Hyalomma marginatum tick.
The tick from Drenthe is the second sighting of an adult Hyalomma marginatum in the Netherlands this year. The first specimen was found a week earlier in the Achterhoek. The Centre for Monitoring of Vectors (CMV) of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) investigated both locations and found no other Hyalomma ticks.
RIVM examined the Hyalomma tick from Drenthe and found no Crimean Congo virus in it. Approximately fifty Hyalomma ticks found in Northwest Europe have been tested for the Crimean Congo virus since 2012. All tests were negative, none of these ticks carried the virus.
RIVM did find the bacterium Rickettsia aeschlimannii in the Hyalomma tick from Drenthe. People infected with this bacterium may develop fever, headache, muscle pain and a characteristic rash. This disease, also known as spotted fever, is rare. Spotted fever is easy to diagnose and treat with antibiotics. Horse owners should be aware that the Hyalomma tick could carry parasites that can give horses’ piroplasmosis. The parasites were not found in the tick from Drenthe.
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