Stakes high in fight against fever ticks; pest could spread coast to coast

摘要

Livestock health officials say it could cost upwards of 13 million dollar and take as long as two years to stop an incursion of fever ticks into the formerly fever tick-free areas of five counties along the Texas-Mexico border. The fever tick, less than a 1/8-inch long, is capable of carrying and transmitting "babesia," a blood parasite deadly to cattle. "For most of the country, the fever tick has been pushed out of sight, out of mind, since the 1940s. This tick, however, is capable of transmittinga foreign animal disease and it's sitting in our backyard," said Dr. Bob Hillman, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission.