National Agricultural Library Spotlight: Dr. Tick

In the late 1800s, Texas cattle fever disease, also known as bovine babesiosis, caused U.S. livestock producers to lose large numbers of their herds. No one knew what caused the disease, how cattle spread it, or why it disappeared in the winter. USDA’s Bureau of Animal Industry veterinarian Cooper Curtice’s research showed that ticks carried the organisms Babesia bigemina and Babesia bovis. These organisms are responsible for infecting red blood cells of cattle, the destruction of which results in anemia, fever, and death. This new knowledge about cattle fever opened the way to understanding malaria, yellow fever, and typhus. Read about USDA’s cooperative effort with state governments to eradicate cattle ticks in NAL’s exhibit. Read more…