Update on Texas cattle fever ticks and the quarantine quandary

Two ticks found in Mexico and South Texas can carry the microscopic parasites that cause Texas Cattle Fever. When Hurricane Harvey swept through coastal ranches recently, this put one tool used to control this pest into question – quarantine zones. However, a research entomologist with the ARS Cattle Fever Tick Research Lab is confident the storm did not allow tick populations to increase or change quarantine zone boundaries. But producers and landowners should still be observant, particularly for ticks, even outside the South Texas quarantine zones. Read more…