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life History and Control of the Cattle ftevar aide and fteir Bearing
oa Human Welfare
(A) nature of Work
1. History and Evolution
la IB89 a parasitologist of the former Bureau of Animal Indue try
worked out the essential facta in the life history of the cattle fever
tick which, up to that tine, had not been adequately investigated.
As
a matter of fact, the tick genus that was afterwards shown to he the
conveyer of Items Fever had not even been named, so that the investigator
named it Bocrphilus {cattle lover), and determined, for the first time
that this parasite spent Its entire developmental cycle, beginning with
the seed tick that crawls from the grass onto cattle, on only one host,
instead of dropping off the host after each molt,
this in Itself was
a novel discovery so far as tick life histories were concerned.
The
investigator also noted the time required for the various stages in
the life cycle of the tick to pass through their development, beginning
with the egg up to the complete engorgment of the female tick that
takes place before the parasite drops off the animal and falls to the
ground.
These experiments demonstrated, moreover, that it was possible
to rear on cattle the sead ticks that hatched from the eggs deposited
by the engorged females on the ground.
This facilitated somewhat later
the crucial Tessas Fever experiments which were carried out In the am*
Bureau by another investigator beginning in 1390.
�Another noteworthy contribution made a few years later by the investigator who worked out the life cycle of the fever tick, was based
not CHI animal experimentation but on the analysis
of data bearing on the
life history of the cattle fever tick and its relation to the transmission
of the disease which cmm to be known as Texas fever, and is now generally
known throughout the world as tick fever.
This analysis lead the investi-
gator to outline procedure® on how tick eradication and, therefore, the
eradication of the disease tick fever which it conveys, could be
accomplished.
In 1907 extensive investigations ware made in the Bureau of Animal
Industry on the effects of arsenical dip® on ticks.
Arsenic was first
introduced as a constituent of dips for the destruction of fever ticks
in Australia, and was later tested in Ctfea during the first occupation
of that country by tfeitad States military farces.
Additional tests were
made by the Mvestock Sanitary Board of Senas, with the result that it
became apparent that arsenical dips held strong promise of being useful
in a program of tick eradication.
As a result of teats made in the
field by workers of the Bureau of Animal, Industry, it was determined
that ticks cm infested cattle that were dipped twice, at am interval of
about two weeks, in an arsenic, soda and pine tar mixture (containing
arsenic equivalent to 0.22
of 1 percent of arsenic trioxide in the farm
of sodium arsenite) would be destroyed.
It was also dsraomtrated that
cattle so dipped could be moved to dean ground without carrying viable
ticks with them.
In these investigations it was found that arsenic did
�3
not
kill
all the ticks promptly and that
enough to deposit eggs.
SOBS
few even survived long
In such cases, however, the tides that survived
to deposit eggs, deposited smaller nuabera them they xwamlly did, and
of those so deposited only few, 1f any, hatched wi that the seed
hatching under these conditions did not survive very long*
«?fc«
Moreover,
the investigations showed that cattle so dipped, even if they continued
to occupy tick-infested places, rarely bams reinfested until several
days had elapsed.
eradication
It is evident, therefore, shy the method of tide
aaaa into g*p*r*i use as a consequence of
in-
vestigations, namely, dipping in arsenical solution every Ik days, proved
effective in freeing cattle frost ticks.
And it was this procedure as
outlined that ultimately lead to the eradication of tick fever, or
pirogOasaosls, from the Halted States.
2. Purpose and Objectives
this work was undertaken with the expectation that by persistent
application to es^erlaentation with agents designed to destroy ticks,
a method would be discovered whereby it would become possible to free
all cattle from this scourge,
These objectives were definitely realised
and the oaepaign of tick eradication was begun In 1$»6.
3*
Current Work
There is no further current research on this problem.
(B) Acc^p^lshaeats and iheir Significance1
Before the research outlined above was undertaken cattle in all of
the States in the southern portion of the United States,
tram.
Virginia
�)
. k to California and all the way down to our southernmost boundaries, were
t ids-infested.
Mid* from the disease tick fever from which these animals
suffered, they also were plagued by ticks ^ se, because these parasites
act as a constant drain on the vitality of the hosts on which they live.
•She infested cattle were thin, anemic, and beesase of their poor physical
condition they were a prey to -various infectious diseases and to sudden
changes in temperature.
Well-bred animals from the north that were
brought into the South, in order to Improve the native beef and dairy
herds, had no resistance to Uck fever and were readily victimised by it.
tttray of these animals died.
There
was actually no way of improving the
cattle industry of the South without getting rid of the fever tick.
Although there was logic behind the entire program of Uck eradication,
and the eradication plan was based on a sound background of biological
science, the road that lay ahead for Mmki those engaged in the program
was, indeed, a difficult one.
It was necessary, in the first place, to
convince the farmers that Ueks actually conveyed the disease tick fever,
la short, an educational campaign of groat proportion had to be carried
out in order to make the eradication program possible.
Actually, the
campaign of eradication lasted for about kQ years,during which county
after county in the South became involved la the eradication campaign,
perhaps the best illustration that can be given of the firstpalpahle
evidence of the value of tick eradication, aside from the good it did
in enabling the South to develop its beef cattle and dairy cattle
industries, was that during the drougth years in the early 1930’s it
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was possible to salvage many cattle by sieving than out of the drougth
areas into the South where there was enough feed for then*
Bed sot the
South been freed of ticks it would not have been possible to move northern
cattle into that area, for the simple reason that these animals ware
hypersusceptible to tick fever and would have died by contact with tick
Infested cattle*
There can he no question hut that touch of the agricultural development in the South that has taken place during the last few decades is
the direct result of tick eradication*
Without that, the beef and dairy
industries la the South would have hem no farther advanced than they
were in the beginning of the present century.
Actually, tick eradication
created a revolution in the agricultural economy of the South by making
it possible to develop that area into an important livestock region*
�
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098
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003
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Life History and Control of the Cattle Fever Tick
Date
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undated
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223-098-003-012
texas-cattle
texas-cattle-fever
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Dr. COOPER CURTICE
18£6
Born: Stamford, Connecticut, May 7.
1881
Received the degree of B.S. in Natural History from Cornell University.
1881-1882
Attended medical lectures at the University of Michigan, transferred to
the Columbia Veterinary College,also instructor in histology at Michigan.
1883
Received the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Science, from Columbia
Veterinary College. Began brilliant investigations for U.S.Geological Survey.
1886
Cooper Curtice matriculated at the National Medical College of Columbian
University, now Msorge Washington University.
1888
He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
From 1886 to 1891, he was an Agent in the BAI and feegaa his studies i*. parasitology which in 1891 were organized into the Zoological Laboratory
1891
Resigned from the BAI and went v,om« to Moravia, New York, because the desk
he had was too near the roof and was exposed to the estremes of heat and
and cold and he was always afflicted by repiratory infections, colds etc.
Texas Fever
Cooper Curtice was concerned, as early as 1888, about the scourge of Texas
Fever, and the economic loss of cattle.
After the Texds-Fever riddle had
been solved, Cooper Curtice immediately envisaged the practical aspectes
of readicating cattle ticks, and it is in this historic setting that we have the
beginnings of tick eradication.
Cooper Curtice knew that something could be
done about the cattle tick, and it was this fanaticism born of knowledge and based
on intimate understanding of the cattle tick, that gave him the courage of his
convictions.
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The strangest part of the study is found in the Opposition”
to these
new tick theories, and this opposition made the problem of Texas Fever, all
the more insurmountable, because some of the opposition originated with members
of Cooper Curtice's own profession.
because "It took over
$
Later Theobald Smith expressed amazement
years for Europe to even believe the fact,"but it
took many people in the United States equally as long to believe the fact.
After he left the Bureau of Animal Industry his work on tick eradication
was in the nature of free-lance work, and at great personal sacrifice to his
family.
He wrote letters and articles for farm journals, veterirary magazines,
gave popular lectures, pleaded with politicians, farmers, and made actual
f^eld demonstrations.
In 1893 he asked that J. Sterling Morton, the Secretary of Agriculture,
consider his name as a candidate1 fior the position of Chief of the Bureau of
Animal Industry.
His request was refused, but later,through the patronage
of a friend was reappointed as livestock agent on September U, 189U.
In 1895 he wrote a series of letters to Dr. Salmon to the effect that
"The whole evidence points out that the ticks are not a necessary evil and
that with a little care they can be eradicated?
After these letters from
Georgia, Cooper Curtice was transferred to Virginia. Before leaving to
retrace the quarantine line in Virgina, Cooper Curtice asked Dr. Salmon if
he should base his findings on the presence of ticks or on the report of
disease.
He replied ,"on ticks","This was the first acknowledgement to me
that tick country was identical with the '^exas fever country and the absense
of ticks indicated disease free country
"
In 1896 he sent some manuscripts of information to be distributed to
farmers on tick eradication to the Bureau, but heard nothing from it.
He then sent similar manuscripts to the Virginia Polytechnics 1 Institute
for consideration and received a reply from Dr. E.
p. Niles, "' Could you
not also change the to ne of the article to some advantage". Not satisfied
�3
the progress toward tick eradication, on June 2U, 1896, Cooper Curtice addressed
the Virginia State VeterinaryBedical Association and in a lengthy speech stated,
"It is the relationship between the tick and the disease and the means of eradicating them from Virginia and the United States to which I invite
vour
attention?
"The Spanish invader was responsible for the ticks a nd the disease in the United
States. Curtice said, "Could he have planned as diligently as he did inquisition
methods to have left behind a plague which would harass his foe for ages he could
scarcely have found a better means than the tick." "I look mast eagerly for the
cleansing of even a certain portion of the infected territory under the direct
intention of man for it opens the way to pushing the ticks back to the Spanish
isles and Mexico and liberating cattle from disease and pest and the farmer
from untold money losses.
Let your war-cry to death to the ticks."
In October 1896, in an article in the Southern Planter, he cites the need
for Federal and
s
tate participation in eradication of the cattle tick, and
stated,When the ticks have disappeared, a new cattle industry will arise in
these parts and thrive, the fields and buildings will improve, and more of the
home comforts come to the people".
"While the above remarks have been locally
applied in Virginia, the same may be said for any other state and the more that
is known and learned of the destruction of ticks i„ anv State, the more convincing the truth of the statement that ticks ma,r in time be exterminated from
the United States.
"Owing to continued losses from this source and the expenses associated
with perpetual quarantine, there is no sanitary work connected with cattle that
will pay the State and federal Government so large returns on the money expended
as an extended campaign in the extermination of ticks from(infested areas).
"the infested area."
After publication of this article in the Southrn Planter, Cooper Curtice
was "'fired" without notice on November 28, 1896.
�u
In a December 3, 1896 letter to the Secretary of Agriculture he mentioned
unfinished investigations, then stated,"But of far more economic importance
than the avove is the unfinishsd condition of certain field work in restricting
the area of the cattle-tick.
Better tick eradication than to life with the disease and try to inoculate
against it. "Itfithout entering into a discussion of the prosperity of the Federal
Government undertaking to cleanse the tick - the means o
spreading disease -
from its borders, I desire to call to ,r0urattention a class of field experiments
by which it may be demonstrated to ^tates that the eradication of the tick plague
from their borders depends solely upon themselves."
Virginia was mentioned as a possible example for the rest of the country.
The next day December U, 1896 he writes a letter to the Shieftsfythe BAI,
stating that there seems to have been some misunderstanding regarding the nature
of my work in Virginia during the past season. While I was detailed to take charge
in the field of inoculated cattle I supposed that I was to do w at I could in
creating a sentiment w ich would eventually lead to experiments in freeing farms
of ticks.
Freeing of oountryaround New Port News and Norfolk would release the
continguous areas from quarantine and the danger o ' outbreaks of disease which
would endanger the wbgle cattle c$rade of the United States.
Fulfillment of the work
would moreover furnish a practical test to all of the affected states whereby they
could remove the quarantine and all danger of spreading disease to other states.
For best success this wrk should be begun at once for much of it depends on
personal instruction.
This letter was not answered by Dr. Salmon , but by Varanus Moore, stating
ms aat«rally much interested in this experiment. If successful it would be
is '.practical demonstration to the South that the elimination of Texas Fever from
their cattle is within their power...."
�5
In ths years that followsd, Cooper Curtice pleaded for a job in the %reau of
Animal Industry, but Dr. Salmo^ was not interested in tick eradication. In
his last letter to Cooper Curtice on April 7, 19C$ he said there were too many
more important things for the Bureau to do than worry about supporting a campaign
against flexas fever and ths tick.
After the termination of Bureau appointment (employment) in 1896, Cooper
Curtice still carried on his crusade for tick eradication from his home at
Moravia, New York.
He sent an article to th e Southern Planter which was subse-
quently published in January 1897.
Kill all ticks, every ons counts.
Later in 1897, Cooper Chrtice investigated an extensive outbreak of Texas
Fever in Massachusetts, and reported it to Massachusetts authorities, indicating
that the BAI might have been able to help in the situation or in preventing it,which the government ted not done.
Wiile working in New York in 1898, Dr. Moore (Varnus)?? wired Curtice to
meet a trustee of No 'tfc Carolina College or commencement dav. I just made it,
and agreed to .join the College and Experiment Station in November 1898. He had
previously agreed through °r. Walcott to join a party to hnnt fossils. I told
the trustee that I could do a service in tick eradication'*.
As State Veterinarian in Nortv, Carolina he immediately fostered tick
eradicatior. He formed cattle clubs that did their own inspecting and watching
over several sections and the whole scheme v© rked out most satisfactorily, and
finally resulted in clearly 0c a very large infected area.
He handled the
North Carolina Legislators most successfully.
In 1900 Cooper 6urtice resigned his position in North Carolina to accept
a position at the Rhode Island Collage of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In
subsequent years he continued his interests in tick eradication, and in seeking
federal aid.. By 190$ he could state
of Agriculture of the
The recent corvtrertion of the Commissiegers
c
otton States was a n epoch-making one for the cattle industry
of the country ard jts effects will be far reaching. War was delared against the
cattle tick, and erad cation was shown to be easy, practicable, and profitable.
�
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Box
The box containing the original item.
099
Folder
The folder containing the original item.
003
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Texas Fever (Cooper Curtice)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
223-099-003-001
texas-cattle-fever