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Title: Distribution of cattle fever tick infestations detected in the U.S. along the Texas/Mexico border

Author
item Lohmeyer, Kimberly - Kim
item Pound, Joe
item May, Melinda
item Kammlah, Diane
item Davey, Ronald

Submitted to: Livestock Insect Worker's Conference Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2011
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Species identification and coordinates of geographical premises for infestations of cattle fever ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (Say) and R. (B.) microplus (Canestrini) were determined for 782 specimens submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory during the eleven years between 1 October 1999 and 30 September 2010. Cattle fever tick specimens obtained from infested animals along the Texas/Mexico border were submitted for identification as a requirement of the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program. A geographic information system was developed that incorporates collection records and infestation. Submitted ticks came from eleven Texas counties (Val Verde, Kinney, Maverick, Dimmit, Webb, Zapata, Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, Brooks, and Willacy), the majority of which were from Zapata and Starr counties. Submitted ticks were comprised of 19.7% R. (B.) annulatus and 80.3% R. (B.) microplus. Maps produced from this GIS could be highly beneficial for locating and defining the parapatric boundary between R. (B.) annulatus and R. (B.) microplus and for indentifying ranges of infestations of these two cattle fever tick species that have been detected within the U.S. along the Texas/Mexico border.