interview with The Straits Times (Aug 2025)

Rhipicephalus linnaei is causing a problem in animal shelters in Singapore. Despite weekly tick treatments since March 2025, the current infestation seems to be harder to control than ‘usual’. Apart from resistance to pesticides and acaricides (Tucker et al., 2020), another likely reason for the persistence/increase in abundance of R. linnaei could be due to changes in the climate, with Singapore experiencing warmer and more humid days. These changes not only quicken the life-cycle of the tick, but also increases survival, by reducing probability of desiccation (drying out).

Of particular concern is that as temperature increases, this tick exhibits lower specificity for dogs, and may choose to bite humans instead (Backus et al., 2021). This tick is also a known vector of several disease causing pathogens such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Demma et al., 2005), and Ehrlichia canis (Moraes-Filho et al., 2015). The tick has also been associated with the transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which causes anaplasmosis (Culda et al., 2025).

Thankfully, no tick-borne pathogens have been reported from these ticks in Singapore yet. Although one has to question if these pathogens are indeed absent, or whether they have gone unreported since tick-borne diseases are, at present, non-notifiable in Singapore.