Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-01-29
TfE TEXAS FEVER TIoK.
How and When 1t Appears, and How
to. Eradicate It.

While South Carolina is not cat
tie raising State, the census OF the
L 1nttAd States Department of Agri-
culture shows that there were 1885,
413 head OF cattle, valued at $6,-
453,3A8 in this State on January 4,
1907. This Is over 2 La per cent
OF the total number OF cattle In all
the States South OF the Federal
Quarantine Line and as competent
authorities have estimated that the
cattle tick causes an annual loss of
at least 41,000,000 In this area, the
people OF this State must bear their
share, which amounts to over $685.
500 each year--7a sum sufficient to
eradicate this troublesome and dam
gerous pest from almost the entire
state.
The cattle tick, or fever tick, as
IL is often called, is parasite which
obtains its nourishment from, the
} blood of cattle, and by so doing
causes an immense drain on the vi
tally OF its host. The only manner
to the amount OF vitality lost by
cattle must be obtained by study
of the development of the tick.
The tick matches from avery small
egg, which Is deposited on the
ground by the mature female. The
size of the egg can be imagined when
one considers that each fully deyel-
oped female tick deposits between
/ 900 and 5000 eggs In the few days
that elapse from the time she drops
from the COW until her death. The
newly Matched seed tick Is not capa-
BILE of further development unless 1t
reaches the body of the COW, (al-
though it occasionally develops on
horses and mules), and obtains the
blood which is essential for its life.
The tick, however, may exist for sew
eral months before 1t reaches host,
but upon reaching the animal, 1t de-
2 velops rapidly, increasing in bulk
, and weight fully ten thousand times
within three weeks.
This rapid growth of the tick
makes 1t very evident that the re-
sulting drain on the bodies Of the
cattle must be enormous, in fact this
is often enough to dwarf and stunt
calves and yearlings, and IL cattle
are heavily infested with ticks this
drain may be sufficient to cause the
death Of immune Southern cattle.
Aside from this enormous loss of
blood, infested cattle suffer continu-
ously from irritation and injury Of
SAhe skin, the tick causing q minute
puncture, surrounded by an area of
intense Inflammation, and certain
portions of the animals body become
covered with scars and scabs as q
result.
This loss OF blood and irritation
of the skin causes severe losses
through checked or retarded growth
and diminished milk secretion OF our
cattle, but these losses appear al
most insignificant when compared to
xxl, fnllnUy fha cnraQ6~
ing OF the infectious material of Tex
as or tick fever by the fever tick.
This is very fatal disease among
cattle that have never been exposed
to the fever tick, and Is known to
! the Inhabitants Of this State by seve-
raj names, such as distemper, red
water bloody murrain, big gall, etc.
For many years the cause of this
disease remained mystery, but 1t
4 shas now been coclusively proven that
the tick is the carrier of o micro
parasite, which causes the disease.
) The announcement of this discovery
brought forth much ridicule from
the public, and q few still refuse to
believe that the spread OF this dis
ease Ia due to the tick. This disbe-
lief Is not surprising. however, when
one remembers the storm of ridicule
that, few years ago, greeted the
announcement of the discovery of
the mosquito as carrier of the
germ OF yellow fever.
q !. While both OF these parasites
apsmit disease, they do so In Q
slightly different manner The mos
Uauito carries the germ OF yellow fe-
YER directly from sick persons to 9th
ers in good health, but the fever
tick does not carry the infectious
material of Texas or tick fever In
this direct manner The fever tick