Risa Pesapane, Kaylee Shrock, Cece Bryant, Andrew J Rosendale
We report the establishment of the Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) and Rickettsia parkeri bacteria in Ohio, USA. We collected host-seeking ticks through surveillance in 2020-2021. Our discovery of established populations in 2 Ohio counties highlights a medically critical vector-pathogen system with serious public health implications.