7-24-13 lone star tick

University of Wisconsin researchers say a new species of tick may be making its home in Wisconsin.  The Lone Star ticks usually live in the southeastern and eastern parts of the country but have been increasingly appearing in Wisconsin. State epidemiologist Zip Johnson says 12 of the ticks have been found In  Dane County this summer.  Johnson says the Department of Health Services is monitoring for human cases.  "We need to have people help us if they see these type of ticks to contact the lab, send them in for identification and testing,"  Johnson told AM 1170 WFDL's Between the Lines program.   "That's the only way that we would be able to understand what's happening if we have some kind of a tick surveillance.  Its very important."   Johnson says before saying the ticks have been established in Wisconsin researchers will need to see all three of the tick’s life stages, larval, nymphal and adult in the same area for several years…criteria that haven’t yet been met.