National Tick Surveillance Program 

 Calendar Year 1985 



During calendar year 1985, the collection and submission of 

 ticks from native and imported animals plus plant and animal 

 material was 30 percent less than in 1984. There were 5,037 

 collections in 1985, 7,213 in 1984, 10,207 in 1983, and 9,086 

 in 1982. 



Boophilus microplus and Babesiosis in Puerto Rico 



The Cooperative Commonwealth-Federal Tick Eradication 

 Program in Puerto Rico is continuing toward its goal of 

 eradication of Boophilus i\cks from Puerto Rico. In April 1985, 

 babesiosis was found in herds in the northwestern part of 

 Puerto Rico, which made it necessary to modify the emphasis 

 of the program to prevent spread of babesiosis throughout 

 the island. 



The two headquarters for the Puerto Rican tick eradication 

 programs are in the east at Juncos and in the west at 

 Areclbo. The original babesiosis outbreak was in Hatillo near 

 the Arecibo station. This is predominantly a dairy area where 

 a large percentage of the cattle are located. A decision to 

 concentrate more manpower, vehicles, and equipment in this 

 area was made to eradicate the Babesia carrier ticks and 

 prevent the spread of babesiosis. The total tick eradication 

 budget for 1985 was $11,585,909, with funds from USDA, 

 APHIS, VS; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and the USDA 

 Food and Nutrition Service as the cooperating sources. 

 Veterinary Services put another $800,000 at the disposal of 

 the babesiosis program to buy equipment and materials. In 

 1985 approximately 6,000 herds with 95,000 animals were 

 under treatment each month in the two eradication areas. 



surveillance activities in Texas during 1985. A total of 1,969 

 tick collections were made in 1985, as compared to 3,256 

 collections in 1984. 



In 1985, Veterinary Services tick eradication inspectors 

 apprehended 105 head of livestock, which entered Texas 

 from Mexico along the border from Brownsville to Del Rio. 

 This compares to 163 head apprehended in 1984. Fifty-one 

 of the 1985 apprehensions were cattle of which 29 were 

 infested with Boophilus ticks. Fifty-four apprehensions were 

 horses; none were infested with ticks. 



In December of 1985 Boophilus ticks were found on cattle in 

 the free area of Cameron County, which later resulted in the 

 finding of eight tick-infested premises in this county. 

 Traceouts from the infested premises in Cameron County led 

 to the issuance of quarantines in 22 additional counties in 

 Texas. With the assistance of the State tick force, the 

 traceouts were quickly completed and treatment begun on 

 exposed livestock, inspections revealed ticks on livestock in 

 only two counties other than Cameron County. 



The permanently quarantined buffer zone, under both State 

 and Federal quarantines, extends approximately 500 miles 

 from Del Rio to the Gulf of Mexico. The zone is regularly 

 patrolled by Veterinary Services inspectors who apprehend 

 stray and smuggled animals from Mexico and prevent the 

 dissemination of Boophilus ticks into Texas. The tick patrol 

 along the Rio Grande is the first line of defense against the 

 reintroduction of Boophilus annulatus and 6. microplus into 

 the southern United States. 



Amblyomma variegatum in Puerto Rico 



The Tropical BontTick eradication program in Puerto Rico is 

 Hearing completion. All herds in the area of initial infestation 

 in the central part of the island have been released. In July 

 1985 these herds were revisited, thoroughly inspected, and 

 found free of A. variegatum. Several collections of 

 Amblyomma variegatum ticks were found in other areas of 

 Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in 1985 during 

 surveillance scratching. These were single male ticks with 

 the exception of one case in which one female and three 

 males were found and identified. The specific findings were 

 as follows: Cabo Rojo - May 1985 (3 males, 1 female) and 

 June 1985 (1 male); Culebra - September 1985 (1 male); 

 Quebradillas - November 1985 (1 male); St. Croix, V.I. - 

 October 1985 (1 male); and Vieques - February 1986 (1 male). 

 These ticks were in herds without prior incidence of 

 infestation and without other A. variegatum ticks in the herd 

 or the adjacent areas. Treatment and/or surveillance is being 

 maintained on these herds. 



Boophilus Tick Eradication in Texas 



State and Federal tick eradication personnel continued tick 



There are three important reasons for preventing the 

 reintroduction of Boophilus ticks into the southern United 

 States. First, these ticks are serious pests and parasites of 

 livestock, especially cattle; and in areas where they are 

 enzootic they exact tremendous economic losses on 

 livestock by their continued annoyance and bloodsucking, 

 even when there is no transmission of disease agents. In 

 areas of the world where Boophilus ticks are a problem, 

 livestock owners have found it necessary to institute regular 

 tick control programs, often monthly, in order to prevent 

 serious losses. These routine treatments, used as control 

 rather than eradication tools, often lead to the development of 

 acaricide resistance in Boophilus populations. Resistance is 

 a serious problem in Australia, South Africa, Argentina, and 

 more recently in limited areas of Mexico. 



Following the development of acaricide resistant tick 

 populations, control becomes much more complicated and 

 many times more costly. 



Second, with the introduction of Boophilus ticks and the 

 heavy infestation of large areas, cattle tick fever (babesiosis) 

 ultimately becomes a serious problem. There are several 

 species of Babesia organisms which affect cattle, but 



