14 DAY TRIAL // One can only assume that getting a possible new tick species through customs by hiding it inside their nose is something not many would ever consider writing down on their bucket list. Still, it looks like this is precisely what Tony Goldberg with the University of Wisconsin, Madison did only a few months ago, when returning from a trip to Uganda.
In his defense, it must be said that the researcher wasn't even aware of the fact that he was not traveling alone.
Apparently, the tick set up camp inside one of Tony Goldberg’s nostrils while the latter was studying chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale National Park.
The researcher only realized that something was living inside his nostril when he started to get nose itches. At this point, he grabbed ahold of a flashlight, a mirror, and a pair of forceps and set out to do some deep exploration.
It did not take him long to remove the tick from inside his nose. Besides, he now says that he found the experience “not pleasant but not as bad as you might think.”
After pulling the tick out of his nostril, Tony Goldberg examined it and found that, although evidence suggested that it belonged to the genus Amblyomma, the tick's genetic makeup was not found in any databases.
“Its genetic sequence didn’t match anything in any known databases. So it could be a known species of tick that hasn't been genetically characterized yet, or a completely new species,” Tony Goldberg explains, as cited by Science.
The researcher further details that several tick species have been documented to live inside chimpanzees' nostrils. Therefore, it is likely that the one that climbed inside his nose merely jumped at the opportunity of checking out how the inside of another primate's nose looks like.
Tony Golberg wishes to further examine the tick, and hopes he will soon be able to say whether or not it is in fact a previously undocumented species.