Ticks in Alaska

In the past three years, Beckmen has found at least two other types of ticks that have taken up residence in the Last Frontier and appear to be here to stay: the American dog tick and brown dog tick. Both ticks have been found on dogs or cats that have never left the state, a sign the parasitic arachnids can — and are — surviving in Alaska.

Wildlife disease specialists also say the establishment of new ticks in Alaska poses a risk to all sorts of wildlife, from caribou to coyote to fox to moose to Sitka black-tailed deer to wolves.

“Everybody needs to stop being in denial,” Beckmen said. “Ticks are spreading north. There is transmission going on in Alaska.”

Beckmen rattled off a list of diseases that could be introduced in Alaska as a result of ticks. They included Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, canine ehrlichiosis, canine babesiosis, anaplasmosis, tick paralysis and tick fever.

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