Eradicating the Texas Cattle Fever Tick The Texas Cattle Fever Tick does not harm

Through Prevention the cattle in Mexico because they come into

The Texas Cattle Fever Ticks continue to be contact with these ticks as calves and are

a problem for cattle ranchers in south Texas. able to build an immunity to the parasite,

Gill said.

The Texas Cattle Fever Ticks carry parasites

that cause bovine babesiosis, also known as The Texas Cattle Fever Ticks attack and

cattle fever, which will become fatal within destroy the animals’ red blood cells, causing

two weeks of contact. anemia, high fever and enlargement of the

spleen and liver, resulting in death for up to

Ron Gill, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife 90 percent of susceptible naïve cattle,

Extension livestock specialist, said, “The according to the Texas Animal Health

Fever Tick has been around since the cattle Commission.

drives back in the 1800s.”

Pete Teel, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife

The U.S. successfully eradicated the ticks in Research entomologist, said, “there is a

the 1940s. However, because of white-tailed quarantine zone along the Texas border with

deer, the Nilgai antelope, and other wild Mexico, but we had a recent outbreak in

game crossing over to Mexico, where a tick Live Oak County.”

eradication program does not exist, the ticks

enter the U.S., Gill said. As there aren’t any approved vaccines, cattle

ranchers within the quarantine zone must

use dipping vats or spray boxes as both a “More than 400,000 cattle producers are in

treatment and prevention method, Teel said. the Southern Region of the U.S.,” Teel said,

“which also produces a third of all beef fed

The dipping vats are in-ground concrete in the country.”

structures, similar to a big bathtub, filled

with diluted Co-Ral pesticide where the The mortality rate in cattle that have not

cattle submerge themselves before they are been exposed to the Texas Cattle Fever

penned in a drain area to monitor for Ticks is 70 to 90 percent, Teel said.

possible injury or illness, Teel said.

If cattle have the ticks, the Texas Animal

“Spray boxes are more efficient because Health Commission will quarantine the area

they are mobile,” Teel said. “The spray and begin treating the cattle with schedule

boxes have sprayers releasing Co-Ral from treatments every 14 days for six to nine

each direction on a cow for two seconds, but months or until ticks are gone, according to

this is sometimes challenging because it may the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

not reach creases in their skin.”

Cattle are the preferred hosts, and the ticks

When under quarantine, ranchers must treat will spend their entire life on the cow,

their cattle every 14 days, as that is the according to the Texas A&M AgriLife

lifespan of the ticks, to ensure any missed or Extension.

new ticks are treated, Teel said.

To check herds for Texas Cattle Fever

Ticks, perform a simple “scratch test” as

they as detach easily, Teel said.

If any signs of the Texas Cattle Fever Ticks

are found, call the local Texas Animal

Health Commissioner’s office immediately

to have an inspector inspect the herd.

Teel said he suggests using the Texas A&M

Tick App, which contains pictures, impacted

regions, and more. The app is available at

http://tickapp.tamu.edu.