Research Programs and Projects at this Location : USDA ARS

ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » LAPRU » Research » Research Project #428021

Research Project: Cattle Fever Tick Control and Eradication

Location: Livestock Arthropod Pests Research

2016 Annual Report

Objectives
Objective 1: Reduce the cost of pasture quarantine by developing new methods of treating cattle. Subobjective 1A: Evaluate the efficacy of novel long-acting (LA) acaricides for CFT control. Subobjective 1B: Detect tick infestation by non-invasive procedures. Objective 2: Evaluate efficacy of novel technologies for control of CFT and mitigation of acaricide resistance. Subobjective 2A: Evaluate natural products with acaricidal properties for tick control. Subobjective 2B: Evaluate natural products with repellent or attractant properties for tick control. Objective 3: Develop methods that decrease the impact of wildlife as CFT reservoirs. Subobjective 3A: Evaluate efficacy of anti-tick vaccine formulations for control of ticks on wildlife. Objective 4: Improve species distribution and ecological niche models of CFT species, and specify changes that may occur due to climate change. Subobjective 4A: Update and mine the historical CFT GIS database to produce maps and tools to support APHIS eradication efforts. Subobjective 4B: Assess effect of climate change predictions on recurring cycles of CFT outbreak activity.

Approach
Utilize our unique laboratory resources and infrastructure to evaluate new formulations of compounds for long-acting efficacy against strains of cattle fever ticks that are susceptible or resistant to commercially available acaricidal products. This effort will help prioritize efforts with stakeholder groups to deliver products the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program can use in the Permanent Quarantine Zone. Assess utility of non-invasive procedures, like near-infrared spectroscopy of livestock fecal samples, to detect cattle fever tick infestations. Finding non-invasive alternatives to hands-on inspection (scratching) offer the potential to streamline operations and enhance detection of infestations by Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program personnel. Screen plant-derived substances to identify novel compounds that are active against cattle fever ticks. Research on natural products will enable the discovery of molecules that could be optimized for acaricidal efficacy. Determine immunogenicity in white-tailed deer of novel Bm86-based vaccine developed to vaccinate cattle in the Permanent Quarantine Zone. Confirming that the novel Bm86-based vaccine developed for cattle can also elicit a specific immune response against cattle fever ticks in white-tailed deer will provide a tool that could be used to minimize the impact of wildlife as tick reservoirs. Refine methods applied to cattle fever tick outbreaks using remote sensing technologies and models predicting habitat suitability and species distribution. The improvement of those methods could be used to develop science-based predictive tools the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program could use to adapt future strategies. Overall, the approaches described above aim to deliver science-based tools that the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program can integrate to adapt operations, mitigate the impact of global change, and keep the U.S. free of cattle fever ticks in a sustainable manner.

Progress Report
Objective 1. Cooperator had to reformulate novel tickicide with new mode of action. Progress was documented through a 50-day pilot stall test and field studies where marked efficacy was achieved against cattle fever ticks and the Rocky Mountain wood tick infesting cattle. Adaptation of the original schedule delayed completion of the data analysis and manuscript submission. Study to test cattle fever tick detection by near-infrared spectroscopy analysis of bovine feces was initiated. Processing of fecal samples is in progress. Objective 3. Novel Bm86-based vaccine was delivered to the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program by the cooperator in May 2016. Plans are underway to immunize deer with this novel anti-tick vaccine formulation. Objective 4. A geographic information system (GIS) database that integrates location, infestation, and collection data for CFT infested cattle and wildlife in south Texas was regularly updated. This CFT database was used to construct maps and other spatial summary data that are regularly utilized by the CFTEP to enforce eradication regulatory statutes.

Accomplishments
1. Novel formulation of an anti-cattle fever tick vaccine. Cattle fever ticks that are resistant to chemical treatment, and the involvement of white-tailed deer and nilgai as tick hosts complicate efforts by the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program. New technologies are desperately needed to keep the U.S. cattle fever tick-free. The first doses of a novel formulation of an anti-cattle fever tick vaccine containing the antigen known as Bm86 were delivered to the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program. This achievement is the results of more than five years of cooperative research and development between APHIS-VS, the Texas Animal Health Commission, Zoetis, and ARS researchers in Kerrville and Edinburg, Texas. Statutes governing the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program, which are more than 100 years old, were adapted to enable the use of the anti-tick vaccine as part of an integrated eradication strategy. Beef cattle in Puerto Rico were immunized with the Bm86-based anti-cattle fever tick vaccine produced by Zoetis as part of the research project on integrated cattle fever tick management between the ARS and the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture. The use of this anti-cattle fever tick vaccine by the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program provides a way to keep the U.S. free of cattle fever ticks in a sustainable manner. In Puerto Rico this technology is a tool that can be used as part of an integrated cattle fever tick control program.

ARS scientists in Kerrville and Edinburg, Texas, participated in activities targeting minority students and teachers including: several sessions of the USDA Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program's Future Scientists Program. ARS scientists in Kerrville, Texas, in collaboration with local area minority high schools talked about careers with the ARS to minority students. ARS scientists in Kerrville, Texas, in collaboration with St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, on NIFA funded project "Agricultural-Stem Pipeline: Progressive Experiential Learning Linking Three HSI Academic Tiers" hosted underrepresented students to facilitate their progression to graduate training or careers with USDA in the NIFA priority area of Agricultural and Natural Resources Science for Climate Variability and Change. ARS scientists in Kerrville, Texas, and Edinburg, Texas, in collaboration with University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley participated in event to launch NIFA funded project "Talent in Agriculture for Climate Change and Food Security Adaptation" that includes the study of cattle fever ticks by minority students at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley to address the urgent need to train and prepare agricultural scientists to cope with current and future challenges in food security and climate change. ARS scientists in Edinburg, Texas, hosted an undergraduate student from the Hispanic Serving Institute, the University of Mayaguez in Puerto Rico, for a 1-month student fellowship.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Livestock Arthropod Pests Research: Kerrville, TX