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Hyalomma ticks reaching adulthood in UK in hot summers, UKHSA expert says

Dr Jolyon Medlock of the UKHSA told the Press Association that Hyalomma ticks, carriers of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in their native regions, can now moult to adulthood in UK heatwave years. He said this is still rare and not necessarily an infection risk.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Evening Standard
Image: Daily Mirror

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Dr Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), told the Press Association that Hyalomma ticks are surviving longer in the UK because of hotter summers. Mixed · 2The ticks normally arrive in the UK as nymphs, about the size of a poppy seed, on migratory birds from the Mediterranean and Africa. Previously it was not warm enough for them to moult into adults. Centre · 1Medlock said that in heatwave years the ticks can moult through to the adult stage, so adults may show up in UKHSA tick surveillance. He said this has happened fewer than about five times in the last 10 years, but that officials and colleagues across northern Europe are "starting to pick up a bit more".

Mixed · 2He cautioned that an adult tick "doesn’t mean the tick will survive, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an infection risk". Mixed · 2Hyalomma ticks are the main transmitter of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, which the World Health Organisation says is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asia, with a fatality rate of up to 40%. Mixed · 2Medlock said the virus is relatively common in the Balkans and has recently started to emerge in Spain, and called these "climate-sensitive tick-borne disease pathogens". Incubation after a bite is one to nine days, and the virus can also spread through contact with infected animal blood or tissue. Symptoms start suddenly and include fever, dizziness, neck pain, headache, sore eyes, nausea, vomiting, mood swings and confusion.

Mixed · 2The UKHSA's Tick Surveillance Scheme was set up in 2005 to map and monitor ticks across the UK. Medlock said observatories have recorded Hyalomma nymphs on migratory birds over the last 50 years. Left · 1The Mirror also quoted a gov.uk incident message from last year saying Hyalomma marginatum ticks enter the UK regularly on migratory birds, while Hyalomma lusitanicum enters on imported animals such as dogs, and asking the public to report sightings to the scheme. Mixed · 2More broadly, Medlock said milder winters and hotter, drier summers may shift the seasonality of ticks in the UK. He said ticks stay active through mild winters and that, although 7C is usually cited as the critical temperature for activity, he has seen them active at 3C.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
The Daily Mirror runs the Press Association interview in simplified wording under the same headline, and adds a gov.uk monitoring statement on Hyalomma entry routes.
Emphasis
Plain-language explanation of the life cycle, plus the official gov.uk message and a prompt to report ticks.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives no more alarm than the centre piece; keeps Medlock's caveat about survival and infection risk.
Charged language
“Disease-carrying”
For example
“Ticks that carry diseases are staying alive longer in the UK because of the hot weather , according to an expert.” — Daily Mirror

Centre1 outlet

Framing
The Evening Standard reports Medlock's PA comments as a climate-linked health story, leading with the disease risk from Hyalomma ticks.
Emphasis
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, its symptoms and fatality rate, alongside Medlock's caveats.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not include the gov.uk statement on how Hyalomma species enter the UK.
Charged language
“Disease-carrying”“potentially severe and life-threatening virus”
For example
“Hyalomma ticks are the main transmitter of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a potentially severe and life-threatening virus.” — Evening Standard

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.