As of: March 6, 2024, 9:51 p.m
By: Martina Lippl, Sandra Sporer
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Hyalomma tick is larger than domestic ticks.
The giant tick or “hunting tick” can be recognized by its striped legs.
© Robert Koch Institute
The giant tick Hyalomma is spreading in Germany and could transmit dangerous pathogens.
Experts fear an increasing population.
Frankfurt – In summer you spend a lot of time outdoors – for example swimming at the lake or taking a walk in the forest.
You are in the habitat of ticks and should therefore be particularly careful.
It's best to search carefully after a trip to the countryside, especially during tick season, because ticks transmit diseases.
And a species that is actually native to the tropics, the Hyalomma, is increasingly active in Germany.
The population is still small, but experts fear that this could soon change.
Hyalomma tick actually comes from the tropics, but can now also be found in Germany
Hyalomma originally come from Africa or Asia.
They are probably brought to Germany by migratory birds in the spring.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the first specimens were discovered in 2007.
In 2018, a large number of these tropical ticks were documented in Germany for the first time.
19 specimens from eight different federal states – Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein – were reported to the RKI.
The tropical tick species Hyalomma can grow up to two centimeters long, even without having sucked blood.
This makes it twice as big as the common woodbuck.
A special feature of this species of tick is that it actively hunts, in contrast to domestic ticks that blindly wait for their prey.
The so-called “hunting tick” moves actively and quickly towards its prey.
Hyalomma ticks can be recognized by their strikingly striped legs.
Experts are concerned about the spread of the “hunting tick” Hyalomma – which transmits dangerous diseases
Ute Mackenstedt, a parasitologist at the University of Hohenheim, stated in a statement that the new species of tick also bites people and can transmit typhus.
In 2019, the first case of typhus was reported in a horse owner in North Rhine-Westphalia, alarming scientists.
The infected person was successfully treated with antibiotics.
However, Hyalomma ticks can also carry the dangerous Crimean-Congo virus and cause the deadly Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF).
However, so far this virus has not been detected in any of the ticks found in Germany.
Still, this is no reason to ignore the invasive species.
“Cases have occurred in Portugal and Spain over the past few decades, and more recently in southern France,” explained Ute Mackenstedt, a parasitologist at the University of Hohenheim, in an interview with Der
Spiegel
.
“Hyalomma is one of the ticks that we believe will settle here sooner or later,” added the tick researcher.
The RKI also believes this scenario is possible: adult animals are active from twelve degrees Celsius, and lower temperatures do not necessarily seem to affect the animals.
Finds from the autumn months would prove this, according to the Berlin institute on its website.
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Caution is also advised with tick species native to Germany
Domestic ticks also pose a danger as they can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease and TBE (tick-borne encephalitis).
The common wood tick and the alluvial forest tick can transmit TBE.
Most people infected with TBE remain symptom-free.
However, in severe cases, the viral disease can lead to inflammation of the brain and damage the spinal cord.
There is a vaccination against TBE, but not against Lyme disease.
The Alongshan virus is also transmitted by ticks.
Tick species |
Transmitted diseases |
|---|---|
Common woodbuck (Ixodes ricinus) |
TBE, Lyme disease |
Riparian forest ticks (Dermacentor reticulatus) |
Babesia (canine malaria), TBEV, Rickettsia |
Hyaloma |
Typhus fever, Crimean-Congo virus |
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the common wood tick (Ixodes ricinus) is the most common tick species in Germany.
It is followed by the alluvial forest ticks (Dermacentor reticulatus), which, however, rarely attack humans.
TBE cases mainly occur in risk areas in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
TBE can be recognized by these signs.
Doctors strongly recommend a TBE vaccination, including for children.
And if the puncture site of a tick bite is red or itchy, you should definitely see a doctor.
2024 could be a particularly intense “tick year,” predicted tick researcher Mackenstedt in the run-up to a tick congress in February.
One factor for this could be that there are more and more often particularly “tick-rich years”.
Instead of every three years, they now occur every other year.
Rising temperatures contribute to the spread of Hyalomma
It is still unclear whether a Hyalomma population can emerge in Germany in the long term.
However, a few nymphs have already been found that must have hatched in Germany.
“However, further rising temperatures and increasingly lower humidity could contribute to this.”
Year |
Hyalomma ticks |
Location |
|---|---|---|
2007 |
first finds |
|
2018 |
19 copies |
Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein |
2019 |
6 copies |
Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony |
2020 |
1 |
Thuringia |
2021 |
2 |
North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria |
2022 |
14 |
Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt |
2023 |
1 |
Thuringia |
Source: RKI (as of May 26, 2023)
So far only the two Hyalomma species Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma rufipes have been found in Germany.
Other invasive species are also spreading in Germany, such as the black fly.
There are now also two new TBE risk areas.
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