Illinois
More kinds of ticks, longer season as experts warn ‘Illinois is at the frontline’
As tick season approaches, experts warn that Illinois residents should be even more wary as the type of ticks in the state increases and the season lengthens.
Researchers discovered the Asian longhorned tick — an invasive species native to Japan, Korea and parts of China and Russia — in Illinois in April. First reported in the United States in 2017, the tick has since spread to 20 states.
“The role that this tick will play in the transmission of infections in humans is yet to be determined,” the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a recent statement.
But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the tick is not likely to increase the spread of Lyme disease or cause a significant nuisance for humans. Instead, according to Mark Ernst, a veterinarian with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the longhorned tick is most likely to affect cattle.
Though the longhorned tick generally targets cattle, Maureen Murray, assistant director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo, said Chicago residents should be on the lookout for other types of ticks.
Tick patterns tend to vary significantly from year to year, Murray said, but one consistency has been a movement in tick season.
“We’re seeing less severe winters, which might lead to more ticks,” Murray said. “Fewer ticks die during the winter, and ticks can be active sooner in the spring, just because it warms up faster.”
Chris Stone, a medical entomologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey, said he suspects climate change is affecting the types of ticks in Illinois in a few different ways.
First, he said, warmer winters may be encouraging ticks to migrate. His lab has found the Gulf Coast tick, a tick that was once limited to the southern United States, across southern Illinois, he said. The tick can cause rickettsial disease, a type of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, in humans, which can cause fever, vomiting and even death.
“With particularly the winters getting milder, which is one of the main changes we’ve seen in Illinois over the past several decades, that could affect species and allow them to spread further north,” Stone said.
Murray urged Chicago residents not to fall for the common misconception that ticks are a rural problem. Chicagoans can come into contact with Gulf Coast ticks, deer ticks and other types of the disease-prone insects. Her institute has been doing surveys of Chicago green spaces since 2017 and has collected more than 1,000 ticks from different areas in the city over that time period.
“It’s really important to spend time outside and connect with nature in the city,” Murray said. “But we just want to make sure that people are aware that they could encounter ticks, and that there are straightforward steps for preventing tick bites.”
People should check themselves for ticks every time they exit a green space, she added.
Cattle producers also need to be vigilant, according to Ernst.
The longhorned tick can carry a disease that particularly affects pregnant cattle and calves, causing them to become anemic, weak and lethargic. There is no effective and approved treatment for the disease, Ernst said, so it can spread rapidly among surviving animals.
“We urge our cattle producers to check around their ears, under their tail, in their brisket areas, and look for large numbers of really small ticks,” Ernst said. “They’re only about the size of a sesame seed and can get up to the size of a pea when they’re engorged.”
Longhorned ticks also pose a particular threat because of their sheer numbers, he said.
“Female insects do not need a male in order to reproduce and can lay up to 2,000 eggs at a time,” Ernst said. “So it doesn’t take long for an area to become pretty well-saturated with this type of a tick.”
Becky Smith, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, teaches the public how to identify, prevent and treat tick-borne diseases.
Cattle have been affected by the disease in places like Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan, she said. So far, there has only been one affected cow in the United States, but scientists have proven ticks can carry the disease in labs in the United States, she said.
“The biggest concern is for the beef industry and for the sheep industry as well,” Smith said. “One female can produce thousands of eggs, and the real concern is if you get a really strong infestation, a calf can die from blood loss.”
Smith added that people should be particularly aware of the risks of any kind of tick bite.
“Ticks are expanding their range,” Smith said. “They’re moving into a lot of places, and Illinois is at the frontline of that. We’re getting more ticks everywhere. We’ve seen a tenfold increase in the number of tick-borne illnesses. It’s time to be aware.”
A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.
Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities’ guidance.
Taco Bell Lettuce Linked To Growing MI Parasite Outbreak: FDA
“Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer,” the company told the Post. “While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”
In Michigan, where cases have been concentrated, media reports said notices were posted at some Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants last week telling customers the chain was “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro-Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.
But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.
Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.
And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.
The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.
Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.
Man, that’s just downright pathetic.
But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.
The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.
Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.
The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.
Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.
In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.
Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.
Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.
Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.
He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.
Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th).
The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
-
Los Angeles, Ca17 minutes agoCybertruck driver arrested for DUI after Los Angeles pursuit crash
-
Detroit, MI41 minutes agoDER Weekends: Pathways for first-gen students at the University of Detroit Mercy – WDET 101.9 FM
-
San Francisco, CA53 minutes ago“There is no ceiling”: Welcome to Area AI
-
Dallas, TX59 minutes agoCowboys news: Dak Prescott embraces high expectations in Dallas
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoHow to watch France vs. England in the third-place FIFA World Cup match: TV channel, streaming, kickoff time
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoPolice investigating deadly shooting in Allston – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
-
Denver, CO1 hour agoFormer strip club owner selling Castle Pines mansion for $8M
-
Seattle, WA1 hour ago‘Imagine you crushed a raccoon like a can’: Curley describes viral deformed ‘mutant’ Jimothy – MyNorthwest.com
