The Boophllus Mlcroplus Eradication 

 Program in Puerto Rico 



Tick eradication efforts are 

 currently in progress against 

 Boophllus mlcroplus in Puerto Rico. 

 Surveillance activities and treatment 

 operations are being conducted to 

 detect and rid the island of this 

 serious threat to the local beef and 

 dairy industries. During calendar 

 year 1979, there were 1,979 

 collections made from domesticated 

 animals on the island. These 

 included 1,947 collections 

 Identified from cattle, 22 from 

 horses, 2 from dogs, 5 from goats, 2 

 from swine, and 1 from sheep. 



The Status of Amblyomma 

 Variegatum in Puerto Rico 



The National Veterinary Services 

 Laboratories (NVSL) identified only 

 4 collections of the tropical bont 

 tick in 1979 as compared to 47 

 collections in 1978, 54 in 1977, and 

 26 in 1976. In the past, the 

 collections have been principally 

 from the municipalities of Cayey, 

 Cldra, and Caguas. The collections 

 identified in 1979 were from the 

 municipalities of Cldra, Comerio, 

 San German, and Rio Piedras. 



The Boophllus Program in Texas 



The overall Texas Boophllus 

 situation continued to look good 

 during calendar year 1979. As 

 expected, there were the usual 

 apprehensions of livestock which had 

 strayed from Mexico into the buffer 

 zone on the Texas side of the Rio 

 Grande. A small problem area still 

 exists in northern Webb County where 

 there has been a spillover of B. 

 annulatus from the normal cattle 

 host onto white-tail deer. 



The Boophilus tick identification 

 from Texas made at the NVSL totaled 

 135 collections for calendar year 

 19T9* This is appreciably higher 

 than the 69 Boophilus collections 

 made in 19T8, and 66 Boophilus 

 collections made in 19TT» However, 

 it should be pointed out that 72 of 

 the 1979 calendar year collections 

 were from deer and 1 from a coyote 

 as the result of an intensive 

 vildlife/tick survey conducted in 

 the problem area of northern Webb 

 County. During calendar year 1979, 

 there were 62 Boophilus collections 

 submitted from cattle in Texas, and 

 the majority of the submissions 

 involved cattle on a single premise 

 in the problem area of nothern Webb 

 County and do not represent new 

 premise infestations. 



Factors Affecting the Boophilus 

 Tick Eradication Program 



The Boophilus tick eradication 

 program has as its goal the 

 elimination of all Boophilus ticks in 

 the United States and preventing 

 their reintroduction. The two 

 species of ticks of the genus 

 Boophilus that are occasionally 

 introduced into the United States are 

 Boophilus annulatus , the cattle 

 fever tick, and Boophilus mlcroplus , 

 the tropical cattle tick. Although 

 closely related, sufficient 

 biological and genetic differences 

 exist between the two tick species so 

 that they are not normally found in 

 the same area. 



The primary purpose of the Boophilus 

 tick eradication program is to avert 

 the economic disaster these two ticks 

 are capable of causing. Both B^. 

 annulatus and Bj^ mlcroplus transmit 

 Babesia bigemina and B. bovis, the 



