CATTLE TICK IN NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3398, 30 April 1919, Page 11

CATTLE TICK IN NEW ZEALAND

NO SERIOUS DANGER. A statement regarding the cattle tick which is causing so much'anxiety among pastoralists in the North Island was made by the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald) in the couse of which he said: "The question has had to be considered very carefully from every pemt of view, seeing that the most careful inquiries and investigations which have been made, and are still going on in those parts of the north where the parasites are most prevalent, have failed to reveal any single pase in which the cattle-beast has shown indications of suffering: in health as a result of their presence upon it. "The ticks are of a different variety from those which in Queensland act as conveyers •from animal to animal of the disease known as ' t : ck fever,' which causes very serious loss to stockowners in that State. This, disease, 'tick fever,' is not present in New Zealand, and never has been, and the additional quarantine regulations made specifically to prevent ' worm-nests ' and pleuropneumpnia oraininer-entrance into New Zealand from Australia have further strengthened our position in keeping out this disease. Ticks themselves cannot cause tick fever. 'Any repressive action taken now, there--fore, must be taken on the lines of preventing possible further trouble, by destroying the ticks when found, and of / doing ■what 3s possible to prevent the spread of these parasites to other parts of the dominion. Their spread in the north is no doubt due largely to the warmer climate, ■which is favourable to their propagation. As a matter of fact, ticksof this class have been present for generations, past in most other countries, including Great Britain, and practically the whole of Europe, though; under the colder weather conditions prevailing there, and also the different conditions under which cattle are Kept, they have never been any source of trouble, in New Zealand, inquiry shows that they were found in the extreme north at least 25 years ago, and again in another area north of Auckland 12 years during the .whole of the intervening period no stances occurred in which any ill-effects have been traced to them.

"It is necessary to make the \ position dear from the point of view as stated, but in order that no risk may be taken in the direction of possible future trouble, it is, as already stated, proposed to take reasonable ana proper measures to cope with these parasites. . "The conclusions arrived at by the scientific officers of the department as to the Identity of these ticks have been confirmed by high authorities in England, to whom specimens were sent for examination." THE CATTLE TICK PROBLEM. WELLINGTON, April 23. The Board of Agriculture, sitting in Wellington, was addresed by the Minister of Agriculture on several matters on the agenda paper. These matters include the measures to be taken regarding cattle tick, shipping, farming instruction, marking and branding schemes, arid the disposition of .the property bequeathed by Mr Josiah Howard for agricultural education. The Minister said the cattle tick question had been investigated by the Veterinary Section of the Agricultural Department, and the department had decided that it would be necessary to have some drastic regulations to control movements from areas where tick was found. ' \ FARMERS ALARMED. TAIHAPE, April 24. A large gathering of farmers this morning carried the following resolution:—"The meeting views with alarm the reported apSearance of cattle tick in Auckland, thus emonstrating the fallacy of the theory .that cattle tiok could not exist south of the 24th parallel of latitude, and requests the Government to take steps to confine the pest to the area already affected, and to effect its eradication." It was pointed out that at the present time there was nothing to prevent infected cattle from being trucked and driven for sale to clean districts. RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD OF "•AGRICULTURE. WELLINGTON, April 28. At the meeting of the Board of Agriculture the question of ticks infesting cattle in New Zealand was as the result of a comm'unicatk>n <!l from the Masterton Farmers' Union. Dr Reakes gave the board a full account of the nature and habits of ticks and of the possible extent of their causing loss to dominion stock-owners. The department had, he stated, carried out a thorough and exact investigation and experimental > work on both practical and scientific lines, and had verified its conclusions as to the identify of the ticks by submitting specimens of them to first-class authorities in Great Britain, It was realised that as the tioksj act as conveyers of tick fever and are not in themselves oapable of setting up this disease, the presence of these parasites in New Zealand does not constitute an immediate menace in the form of causing or spreading tick fever (which has never gained an entrance into New Zealand), or any other serious disease of cattle. At the same time, apart from serious disease, they can, if they become numerous enough, cause depreciation in the value of stocky and, moreover, afford a #nedium for spreading disease. The board therefore resolved that regulations were ro-

quired to apply to the North Island to make tick infestation of cattle notifiable, and to compel the cleansing of infested cattle from parasites and prevention of their spread to other districts through the medium of travelling stock.