COOPERATIVE STATE-FEDERAL TICK ERADICATION ACTIVITIES 
FISCAL YEAR 1971 
The Tick Eradication Program 
Cattle fever ticks, Boophilus annulatus and Boophilus microplus, spread 
bovine piroplasmosis. 
An all-out State-Federal cooperative eradication program was instituted by 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1906. In 1943, 37 years later, 
the tick had been eradicated from the United States except for a narrow 
buffer zone under Federal and State quarantines along the Texas-Mexico 
border. There, reinfestations occur, and an active program is required to 
prevent spread into adjacent areas. Reinfestations have also occurred in 
California and in Florida from time to time. But vigilance and prompt 
eradication measures have eliminated the outbreaks. Keeping the ticks out 
of the United States is a major part of the effort against cattie fever 
ticks. 
The eradication program includes inspection, quarantine, and dipping of 
infested and exposed animals and animals from infested or exposed premises. 
National Tick Surveillance Program 
A detailed report, "National Tick Surveillance Program, Calendar Year 1970," 
was published in July 1971. This report indicated that during calendar year 
1970, 3,025 tick survey collections were made and identified. Of these 
collections, 1,311 were from cattle, 309 from dogs, 671 from horses or mules, 
182 from zoo animals and miscellaneous hosts, 259 from native wildlife, and 
293 from animals offered for importation. 
During fiscal year 1971, 696 lots of ticks were collected at public 
stockyards and sent to the Animal Health Division's (ANH) laboratory in 
Beltsville, Md., for identification. 
Table | lists exotic ticks and certain other parasites that were collected 
in the United States in fiscal year 197! and the hosts on which these 
parasites were found. 
