Health alert as giant African ticks spread northwards in France

Giant African ticks, which can carry a potentially fatal disease and can “stalk” prey with heat sensors, have started to spread northwards in France.

Called Hyalomma marginatum, the ticks thrive in dry conditions. They have been present in France along the Mediterranean coast and Corsica since at least 2015.

Adults are typically 8mm long, compared to 4mm for the largest native ticks, but can reach a length of 2cm when fully gorged after biting.

They are mostly found on large livestock.

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Tricky-to-remove ticks

A vet in Guilherand-Granges, a suburb of Valence in Ardeche, 200km from the Mediterranean, raised the alarm after finding two ticks crawling up her leg in her garden in early March.

“We had been alerted that they were in the area last year, so I was aware of them, but it was still a bit of a shock,” Dr Anne Staub-Augustyniak told The Connexion.

In a Facebook post, she wrote: “They track their victims with speed and determination and are very difficult to remove, especially when they are in fur or hair.”

She said she was able to identify the ticks immediately by their size and the stripes on their legs.

“As a vet I see ticks all the time, and these immediately struck me as different.”

The Institut national de recherché agronomique has also issued warnings about the ticks, amid fears they could potentially spread Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever. The World Health Organization states that the fever has a 10-40% mortality rate.

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever

Health agency Santé publique France also issued a warning about the ticks in the Mediterranean region last year, revealing that cases of the fever had been detected among cattle. So far no cases have been found in humans in France.

Symptoms, including fever, muscle pain, dizziness, abnormal sensitivity to light, stomach pains and vomiting, usually appear within a week of being bitten by an infected tick but 80% of infections are mild. Where cases are severe, hospitalisation is required.

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Some people already take extensive precautions against ticks in France due to the risk of Lyme disease. Advice includes covering exposed skin with long sleeves and trousers, using DEET-based insect repellents, and a full body inspection for ticks when you return home.

If a tick is found, care must be taken not to crush it during removal as this can make the bite worse.

You can buy special tick remover ‘tweezers’ to help. The best method is to pull the tick off with an anti-clockwise twist as its mouth is corkscrew-shaped.