Translated by Song Chunling
June 15, 2011
Original article: [Chinese]

 After reports that lethal ticks are biting dogs in Beijing, the Centre for Disease Control has sought to calm worried citizens.

“There’s no need to panic if you’re bitten by a tick - it will be fine if you go to hospital in time.” Pang Xinghuo, the centre’s deputy director said at a press conference on June 15.

 Newspapers reported earlier this month that ticks had bitten a woman as well as pet dogs in the Hulongguan district in the north east of Beijing.

 Pang said that none of the recent tick bites described in the media were reported to the centre and added that ticks hadn’t been found outside Hulongguan.

 The potentially lethal ticks were found in Henan, Hubei, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Liaoning provinces between 2009 and 2010.

 According to the current investigation, most of the ticks in Beijing are from the Haemaphysalis Longicornis variety, whose bites cause mild symptoms like allergy, ulcers or Inflammation.