Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Disease-carrying ticks are living for longer in the UK thanks to heatwaves, an expert has said.
asserted
expert → carry → heatwaves
It has previously not been warm enough for hyalomma ticks to survive into adulthood.
asserted
ticks → survive → adulthood
While still rare, it is something health officials are “starting to pick up a bit more”, according to Dr Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
uncertain
officials → start → Agency
Hyalomma ticks are the main transmitter of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a potentially severe and life-threatening virus.
asserted
ticks → threaten → fever
Ticks reach the next stage of their life cycle in a process called moulting, when they shed their hard outer covering.
asserted
they → reach → covering
Dr Medlock told the Press Association: “They would normally come in on migratory birds as a nymph, and then fall off, and they wouldn’t be able to moult.
asserted
they → tell → nymph
It’s not warm enough.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
“What we’re seeing now in heatwave years is that they can moult through to the adult stage, and we then could be able to pick up records of adults through our tick surveillance.
uncertain
we → see → surveillance
“These have happened less than probably five times in the last 10 years or so, but it’s something that we and colleagues across northern Europe are starting to pick up a bit more.
asserted
we → happen → Europe
“It doesn’t mean the tick will survive, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an infection risk.”
asserted
it → mean → ?
The UKHSA’s Tick Surveillance Scheme was set up in 2005 to map and monitor ticks across the UK.
asserted
Scheme → set → UK
Dr Medlock said there have been records of hyalomma nymphs on migratory birds from observatories over the last 50 years.
“So these are the sort of climate-sensitive tick-borne disease pathogens that we might see.”
uncertain
we → say → that
The virus can incubate anywhere from one to nine days following a tick bite.
asserted
virus → incubate → bite
It can also be transmitted through contact with infected animal blood or tissues.
asserted
It → transmit → blood
The onset of symptoms is sudden and can include fever, dizziness, neck pain, a headache and sore eyes, as well as nausea, vomiting, mood swings and confusion.
asserted
onset → include → fever
Elsewhere, milder winters and hotter summers may also lead to a “shift in the seasonality” of ticks more broadly in the UK, according to Dr Medlock.
uncertain
winters → lead → Medlock
He told PA: “The simple way of collecting ticks is to go and drag a blanket through the undergrowth, and if it’s a hot, humid day, they’re running around quite quickly.
“
asserted
they → tell → undergrowth
If you’ve got mild winters, then they will remain active throughout the winter.
asserted
they → get → winter
“Usually they say 7C is the critical temperature for activity, I’ve seen them active at 3C.
“So as we have milder winters, and hotter, drier summers, we’ll see a shift in the seasonality of ticks.”
asserted
we → say → ticks
The Aporia
