Fever Ticks & Pests

Cattle Fever Ticks, known scientifically as Rhipicephalus (formerly Boophilus) annulatus and R. microplus, are a significant threat to the United States cattle industry.

These ticks are capable of carrying the protozoa, or microscopic parasites, Babesia bovis or B. bigemina, commonly known as cattle fever. The Babesia organism attacks and destroys red blood cells, causing acute anemia, high fever, and enlargement of the spleen and liver, ultimately resulting in death for up to 90 percent of susceptible naive cattle.

The fever tick has been a threat to American agriculture for generations. The disease caused enormous economic losses to the U.S. cattle industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Since that time, the TAHC and the USDA - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Veterinary Services works together to protect the state and nation from the pest and its repercussions.

Fever Ticks are reportable to the TAHC. To report a suspected or confirmed fever ticks, call your private veterinarian or click here. To learn where to take livestock for voluntary fever tick treatment, click here.

Information for Hunters

Landowners, lessees or other individuals that plan to move or hunt nilgai antelope, white-tailed deer, or other free-ranging wildlife located in a fever tick quarantined area must have the animals or hides inspected before movement.

Location	Inspection Request Phone Number
Cameron	956-546-6004
Hidalgo	956-580-3355
Los Fresnos/Harlingen	956-264-9804
Maverick	830-773-5565
Starr	956-487-5007
Val Verde	830-775-5452
Webb	956-723-3051
Willacy	956-908-9390
Zapata	956-765-4911

Fever Tick Quarantines

Current Fever Tick Quarantine Notices & Maps

• 11/9/2016 — Quarantine Notice     Map
• 10/7/2014 —Quarantine Notice     Map

The longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) is native to eastern China, Japan, the Russian Far East, and Korea. It is an introduced and established exotic species in Australia/New Zealand and several island nations in the western Pacific Region.

In late 2017, the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NSVL) confirmed the presence of the longhorned tick in the United States. Longhorned ticks are light brown in color and the adult female grows to the size of a pea when it is full of blood. Males are rare. During other stages of life, the ticks are very small, about the size of a sesame seed.

The tick has been confirmed in the following states: Arkansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Tennessee. Longhorned ticks may attach to a number of hosts including sheep, goats, dogs, cats, horses, cattle, white-tailed deer, Virginia opossums, raccoons, coyotes, red-tailed hawks, red foxes, grey foxes, striped skunks, eastern cottontail rabbits, elk, groundhogs, and humans.

New World screwworms (NWS) are larvae or maggots of the NWS fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax), that cause the painful condition NWS myiasis. NWS flies lay eggs in open wounds or orifices of live tissue. These eggs hatch into dangerous parasitic larvae, and the maggots burrow or screw into flesh with sharp mouth hooks. The wound can become larger, and an infestation can often cause serious, deadly damage. NWS primarily infest livestock, but can also affect mammals, including humans, and birds.

The parasite was last eradicated from the United States in 1966, with costly efforts by federal and state animal health officials, livestock producers, and veterinary practitioners. Eradication efforts have continued in Central America, but the pest is considered endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and South America.

New World screwworms are reportable to the TAHC. To report a suspected or confirmed case of NWS, call your private veterinarian or any TAHC region office.