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Tick riders: Guarding U.S. from deadly pestLAREDO, Texas (AP)--Fred Garza has been patrolling a piece of the Rio Grande for 16 years, usually riding solo on horseback, sometimes venturing to areas where his radio and cell phone have limited range. But Garza's not looking for drug smugglers or illegal immigrants--at least not the human kind. He's looking for stray livestock that might be carrying a tiny pest and its cargo of a deadly disease into the United States. "If it doesn't have hooves, it's not our concern," Garza said. Garza is a veteran of the 61-person U.S. Department of Agriculture "Tick Rider" force, a group that keeps watch over a 700-mile buffer zone along the Rio Grande from Brownsville to Del Rio. They inspect both foreign strays and native ranch animals for the fever tick, a parasite eradicated from the U.S. 65 years ago, that can transmit disease to cattle and could spread to the entire southeastern U.S., if not controlled. But lately, the tick has managed to migrate beyond the 862-square mile permanent quarantine zone, an area from which cattle can't be removed unless they are free of ticks. The spread has forced the formation of three temporary quarantine zones totaling more than 1,100-square miles. "Our concern is that, if we are not successful in containing the outbreak, then at some point we're going to have fever ticks in some area in the country other than South Texas," said Bob Hillman, state veterinarian and executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission. "They're not adept at dealing with fever ticks in other parts of the country." To move cattle out of any quarantine zone and into the "free area," they must first be "scratched," or inspected, for ticks. On the ranch, that usually involves forcing four or five cattle into a narrow chute where their udders, flanks and other areas can be felt for ticks. In the wild, it means cattle must be "apprehended"--that's tick rider-speech for "roped"--for a thorough check. "Each inspector has to familiarize himself to the point that he knows each and every head of livestock," said Jack Gilpin, south assistant field director for the USDA Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program. Finding just one in a herd costs thousands of dollars to ranchers, who must round up the cattle and have them treated--often multiple times--with an injection or pesticide spray or dip before they can be transported. "It's hard on the landowner. (But) that's our job," said rider James Wells, who keeps his fingernails long to more easily pluck the critters which, when full of blood, are still no bigger than the nail of a pinky finger. The tick was virtually eradicated in the U.S. by 1943, a few years after the quarantine zone was established, Hillman said. The last major tick outbreak was in 1972. In 2004-05, there was another outbreak. And now, the current infestation is nearing that level, but no disease has been detected. "We're pretty much on par to set another record" since the 70s outbreak, Hillman said. "It's a dubious record." Cattle tick fever can kill up to 90 percent of infected cattle, causing anemia, weight loss and bloody urine before death. "During a heavy infestation, if you put your hand on an animal," Garza said, "you might touch 50 ticks." The eradication program received $5.2 million in emergency funding to fight the tick spread in the temporary quarantine zones. Hillman said original requests had been for $13 million. "We're appreciative of the funds we receive for the tick program, but it's very obvious that if you need $13 (million) and get $5 (million), you can't do the work you need to do," Hillman said. "If you double the size of quarantine area, you can't do same work in more than twice the area with same personnel and equipment." Bruce Knight, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, wouldn't discuss how much was originally requested. But he said the USDA is "optimistic this $5.2 million in emergency funding should be adequate to get ahead of this pest problem." In recent decades, the fever has caused few deaths because tick riders have been able to keep ahead of it, said Ed Bowers, director of field operations for the tick eradication program. But one of the newest challenges to limiting the spread of the pest is its movement on wildlife. White-tailed deer, elk, red deer and nilgai antelope can carry the tick far and wide. Tick riders can't inspect them like a slow-moving cow, and ranch fences do little to keep them in check. "Game can keep the tick population going in any given area," Gilpin said. 5/12/08 Date: 5/8/08 Advertisement
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