CATTLE TICK MENACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19542, 22 January 1927, Page 10

CATTLE TICK MENACE.

DETECTED IN POVERTY BAY. EFFORTS TO PREVENT SPREAD. SUCCESS IN OTHER DISTRICTS. [BY • TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] A / WELLINGTON. Friday. The presence of ticks affecting cattle vras 'recently detected in the Poverty Bay district and reported to the Department of Agriculture. Dr. C. J. Reakes, Direc-tor-General of Agriculture, stated to-day that a full investigation of the position had been made by Mr. W. C. Barry, district superintendent, and Mr. R. Wright, principal inspector. The tick invasion is limited to a small area in the Tolago Bay district, close inquiry having failed to detect their presence elsewhere in the neighbourhood. A careful watch is being maintained .while investigations are in progress with a view to ascertaining how they reached the district. Dr. Reakes said the ticks are of the same variety as those found farther north and, although they have never been shown to cause any sickness among cattle of act as conveyers of disease, it is recognised that they are undesirable parasites and are capable of doing some damage to hides when present in quantity. Measures have been adopted to prevent their spread and a systematic effort is being made to stamp them out.

In this connection it is of interest to note that there seems reason for thinking that the eradication methods adopted by the department at Waitara, where these ticks made their appearance two years ago, will prove to be successful, as, ; although the period of the year when the parasites are most noticeable is now well advanced, no trace of them has been seen there this season. It is also worthy of note that in the Waikato district these ticks are not only making no headway, but are less frequently met with than was the case ten years ago. They evidently require special climatic conditions and plenty of ground cover in order to flourish. It is only on coastal areas that they are found present in any quantity, and inland conditions appear not to suit them.

There may still be a tendency on the part of some farmers to confuse this tick with the tick prevalent in Queensland, whi.ch is responsible for carrying the infection of tick fever from animal to animal. It is as well, therefofe, to repeat that it is a different tick altogether. Moreover, a series of careful experiments, which have been carried out at the Government laboratory at Townsville, have strongly indicated that the New Zealand tick is incapable of similarly acting as a carrier of infection. Correspondence is passing with Queensland with a view to confirming, this by further experimental work, although there is no record of this New Zealand variety of tick having ever acted as an infection carrier.