Tick-Borne Diseases: Parasitic Arachnids Pose Serious Threat Than Previously Thought [Study]

Ticks are known as "dog lovers" but not in the same loving, caring way as pet owners perceive and treat man's best friend. These parasitic arachnids, which are often mistaken as insects, share a closer genetic material with animals belonging to the class Arachnida, which consists of joint-legged arthropods like spiders, mites, and scorpions.

Dubbed "bloodsuckers," ticks feed on the blood of dogs, humans, and other warm-blooded hosts, particularly mammals. A typical tick bite can result in skin rashes and intense itching, as well as trigger allergic reactions and bring tick-borne diseases. In recent years, evidence shows that ticks carry not only lime disease but also other disease-causing pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

Ticks are often compared with bed bugs and fleas, which are insects with a notorious track record of also causing allergic reactions and infesting or lurking in different parts of a home and even public areas. Although these small animals feed on their hosts, there are differences when it comes to their behavior, feeding habits, and morphological features.

Parasitic Arachnids

Arachnids are often associated with the description of being "eight-legged freaks," with spiders being the most famous representative. It is also this description that identifies ticks as a separate species from bed bugs and fleas that belong to the world's most-known trio of bloodsuckers, a title mostly given to insects such as mosquitoes.

However, there are many non-spider arachnids that are found on animals or plants, which serve as their hosts. These parasitic arachnids behave like the blood-sucking critter insects, which bites or stings us when we sleep at night or even while wide awake during the day.

According to the Australian Society for Parasitology, many non-spider arachnids belonging to the subclass Acari are found as parasites in different flora and fauna. These parasitic arachnids belong to two main groups: macroscopic ticks and microscopic mites.

Tick-Borne Diseases

Most ticks live through four stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. After hatching, these arachnids require to consume blood at every stage to survive. This is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which says that it is through this parasitic feeding habit on how ticks spread disease.

A tick that is always with hosts can live up to three years but most will die if they are unable to find a host.

Not all ticks spread tick-borne diseases but the following below are some that can give illness to people, according to WebMD:

• American dog tick (wood tick)
• Blacklegged tick (deer tick)
• Brown dog tick
• Gulf Coast tick
• Lone star tick
• Rocky Mountain wood tick
• Western blacklegged tick

While ticks have not been relatively considered lethal predators that prey on animals and humans, scientists recently found they pose serious threat than previously thought.

According to a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open on January 11, the incident of tick-borne diseases or TBDs is rapidly increasing, with over 50,000 cases reported in the United States in 2019 alone. This figure is more than double the number from the year 2000.

Research shows that this data can be an underestimation since many TBDs remain asymptomatic.