{"id":1174,"date":"2025-01-29T11:43:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T10:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/2025\/01\/29\/expansion-rapida-de-la-garrapata-hyalomma-lusitanicum-en-cataluna\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:14:17","slug":"expansion-rapida-de-la-garrapata-hyalomma-lusitanicum-en-cataluna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/2025\/01\/29\/expansion-rapida-de-la-garrapata-hyalomma-lusitanicum-en-cataluna\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapid Expansion of Hyalomma lusitanicum Ticks in Catalonia (Spain)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A <strong>recent study<\/strong>, published in the <em>Butllet\u00ed de la Instituci\u00f3 Catalana d\u2019Hist\u00f2ria Natural<\/em> and reported by <em>La Vanguardia<\/em>, warns about the <strong>rapid spread<\/strong> of the <em>Hyalomma lusitanicum<\/em> tick in Catalonia. Previously almost unknown in the region, this species has now been detected in <strong>101 municipalities<\/strong> (75 in the province of Barcelona and 26 in Tarragona) between 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Growing Public Health Risk<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the report, this tick is <strong>not only spreading quickly<\/strong>, but has already been found in <strong>urban areas<\/strong>, such as <strong>public parks, gardens, and school courtyards<\/strong>. Its presence poses a <strong>significant public health risk<\/strong>, as it is a potential <strong>vector of serious diseases<\/strong>, including <strong>Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike other tick species that wait on vegetation for a host to pass by, <em>Hyalomma lusitanicum<\/em> actively <strong>hunts for its prey<\/strong>, moving quickly toward animals and humans when it detects <strong>carbon dioxide from breath and body heat<\/strong>. This behavior <strong>increases its potential for spreading<\/strong> and <strong>raises the risk of human contact<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Environmental Factors and Its Expansion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The study highlights that the <strong>spread of this tick is being fueled by warmer climate conditions<\/strong> and the <strong>increasing population of host species<\/strong>, such as <strong>wild boars and rabbits<\/strong>, which facilitate its reproduction and survival in new areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"566\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/678f862d28be2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/678f862d28be2.jpg 566w, https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/678f862d28be2-300x285.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Municipalities where Hyalomma lusitanicum has been found in Catalonia: in red, the municipalities from the 2022 study, and in orange, those from 2023-2024. Butllet\u00ed ICHN 88 (4), 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Call for Action and Control Measures<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The authors of the study warn that <strong>the actual presence of this tick could be even greater than currently detected<\/strong>, emphasizing the <strong>need for further research<\/strong> to assess its full expansion. They also call on <strong>health authorities<\/strong> to implement <strong>coordinated control and prevention strategies<\/strong>, as current responses <strong>rely on local initiatives<\/strong> without a unified plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The growing presence of <em>Hyalomma lusitanicum<\/em> in Catalonia <strong>highlights the impact of environmental changes on public health<\/strong>. Research and prevention efforts will be crucial to slowing its spread and minimizing the risks associated with this invasive species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: News published in <em>La Vanguardia<\/em>.<\/strong><br><strong>Read the original article here:<\/strong> [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavanguardia.com\/natural\/20250124\/10303456\/plaga-garrapatas-h-lusitanicum-acelera-catalunya.html\">Enlace a la noticia<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent study, published in the Butllet\u00ed de la Instituci\u00f3 Catalana d\u2019Hist\u00f2ria Natural and reported by La Vanguardia, warns about the rapid spread of the Hyalomma lusitanicum tick in Catalonia. Previously almost unknown in the region, this species has now been detected in 101 municipalities (75 in the province of Barcelona and 26 in Tarragona) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1171,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-vector-bone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1174"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1177,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174\/revisions\/1177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glycoscience.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}