TAHC Releases Part of the Fever Tick Temporary Quarantine Area in Texas

Fever ticks are capable of spreading the Babesia parasites that can cause equine piroplasmosis.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has announced the release of a portion of the remaining temporary preventative fever tick quarantine area (TPQA) in South Texas (Starr County), effective Feb. 15, 2013.

The TAHC established a TPQA for portions of Starr County on July 3, 2007 following findings of cattle fever tick infestations on multiple premises. Cattle fever ticks are capable of carrying and transmitting Babesia parasites, which are deadly to cattle. Horse owners are worried because this tick species can also spread the Babesia parasites that can cause equine piroplasmosis in horses. (There are Babesia parasites that affect horses, cattle, dogs, cats, mice, humans, and other mammals.) The fever ticks are common in Mexico, but are not normally found in Texas. (Editor’s Note: See ‘Fever Ticks’ Spreading Across Texas Could Have Equine Impact on TheHorse.com for additional background information.)

The size of the area currently being released in Starr County consists of 23,478.5 acres. Previously released areas from the TPQA in this part of Starr County consisted of 42,111 acres released on Nov. 2, 2011, followed by 45,969 acres released on Dec. 21, 2011.

The release of this portion of the Starr County TPQA rescinds all movement restrictions placed on the livestock and wildlife within the 23,478.5 acres. With the release of this area the TPQA for Starr County is reduced to one remaining small area consisting of 33,024 acres. The area released is located west of FM 649 in the northwestern part of the county. A full description of the remaining Starr County TPQA  and a map which shows the area released can be found at www.tahc.texas.gov

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
332 votes · 332 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!