MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting legislation intended to protect the New York livestock industry from the Asian longhorned tick has been signed into law. The measure was sponsored by Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, Democrat of Hudson, and state Senator Jennifer Metzger, Democrat of Rosendale. The law directs the Department of Environmental Conservation to include the Asian longhorned tick on the invasive species list and on the DEC’s comprehensive plan for invasive species management. It also calls for the Department of Agriculture and Markets to develop and distribute to farmers an informational pamphlet on Asian longhorned tick treatment, management and prevention. The East Asian longhorned tick was first reported in the United States in 2017, and it is the first new invasive tick species to enter the country in 50 years. It is currently found in seven states including parts of New York. As of August 2019, there were no reported instances of the longhorned tick being harmful to humans, but it can transmit diseases to livestock and the tick has also been found on people, pets and wildlife. In Asia, the species carries a virus that kills 15 percent of victims through hemorrhaging, organ failure and blood loss. The female of the species can reproduce without mating, laying thousands of eggs after a single feed. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.