Deer Hunters Reminded of South Texas Fever Tick Quarantine

Good morning. I am forwarding a joint release from the Texas Parks
and Wildlife (TPWD) and Texas Animal Health
Commission (TAHC) regarding fever ticks and hunting.

Carla Everett, director of Public Info, TAHC.
My contact info: 800-550-8242, ext 710
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State officials are reminding hunters and meat processors in South
Texas that additional precautions are required when handling deer
carcasses due to concerns about spread of fever ticks in the region.
The general deer hunting season opens Nov. 1.

Portions of Zapata, Starr, Jim Hogg, Maverick, Dimmit and Webb
counties are under preventive quarantine for livestock by the Texas
Animal Health Commission due to heightened levels of fever ticks
outside the permanent quarantine zone along the Rio Grande border.
The total affected quarantine area covers more than 1 million
acres. Contact the land owner or manager to determine the current
fever tick status, if you are hunting in these counties.

Cattle, horses, white-tailed deer, nilgai and elk can act as a host
for the tick, perpetuating its population.If not contained, according
to TAHC officials, the fever ticks will continue to spread northward
outside the permanent fever tick quarantine area and could become
re-established in other areas of Texas and throughout much of the
south, southeast and parts of California.

"We're telling hunters to use common sense and take precautions when
handling and transporting deer taken on ranches within the quarantine
zone," said Mike Berger, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department director
of wildlife.

According to the TAHC, fever ticks can affect the condition and
general well-being, but are unlikely to cause death in deer. It is
safe to eat venison from fever tick-infested deer.
Deer harvested on infested, exposed, adjacent and check premises must
be inspected, treated and permitted prior to being removed from the premises.
If you kill a deer on other properties within the temporary
quarantine areas, you have three options:

1. Remove the hide completely and leave it on the ranch. If the skull
is needed for proof of sex, seal it in a bag, then dispose of the
skull away from livestock or wildlife after the carcass is processed.
2. Freeze the hide for 24 hours.
3. Have the hide/cape inspected and treated by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Fever Tick Force before removing it from the ranch.

A permit for movement issued by a representative of the Commission
must accompany the shipment of the hide and cape.

"There is too much at stake here to take a chance on inadvertently
carrying this deadly parasite outside the quarantine zone and we are
asking hunters to be vigilant to help keep this tick from spreading,"
Berger stressed.

Fever ticks are capable of carrying and transmitting a protozoa or
tiny blood parasite that destroys red blood cells, causing the deadly
livestock disease, "Texas Fever." Cattle are highly susceptible to
"Texas Fever," and the disease may kill up to 90 percent of infected cattle.

"It took more than 50 years to eradicate fever ticks from the U.S.,"
said Dr. Bob Hillman, TAHC executive director and Texas' state
veterinarian. "We have taken extraordinary precautions against
expansion of fever tick infestation into other counties or other
areas of the Texas. Compliance with these measures is extremely
important to prevent the spread of this dangerous tick." A permanent
fever tick quarantine zone runs through eight South Texas counties
along the Rio Grande to prevent the reintroduction of the ticks into
Texas and the U.S.

Additional information on fever ticks may be found on the TAHC web
site at http://www.tahc.state.tx.us