Dr. Pete Teel pointing out key characteristics of ticks to attendees.
Dr. Pete Teel, right, helps Samuel Liu indentify a tick during the chute-side demonstration at the Veterinary Medical Research Park.
Inspectors learn how to use microscopes to identify details on various ticks.
Workshop Allows Inspectors to Learn Tick Identification and Control
The 12th Annual Tick Identification and Foreign Animal Disease Workshop was held in College Station, May 18-20, with 29 attendees representing the Texas Animal Health Commission, USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services, and USDA - Agricultural Research Service.
The workshop is sponsored by the Texas A&M Department of Entomology and was developed by Dr. Pete Teel at the request of the Executive Director of the Texas Animal Health Commission. The workshop serves the needs of Texas Animal Health inspectors in tick surveillance activities at auction barns and other animal venues.
Also known as the “Tick School”, the workshop trains inspectors in collecting ticks during field activities, in tick identification to genus-level, in recognizing key characteristics of certain exotic ticks, and in submission of specimens to the state-federal laboratory.
Teel said inspectors not only receive instruction in tick biology and ecology but also review biosecurity and quarantine issues related to exotic ticks and tick-borne diseases. The Texas Animal Health Commission includes this workshop as part of their professional development program for new employees.
Activities include discussions of personal safety, primary and secondary tick infestation sites, proper tick removal, tick identification under field conditions, biosecurity issues at auctions and ranches, and reporting data to the state-federal laboratory.
The class was introduced to a new resource for tick identification in the field. Teel said that an AgriLife Research and Extension team has coauthored and developed a mobile web application called “The Tick App for Texas and the Southern Region” that can be accessed wherever smartphones or other similar devices have web access. The new app will be available to the public very soon.
Teel also said that Animal Health Inspectors are part of the first line of defense against the introduction of exotic ticks to Texas and the United States. For example, introductions of cattle fever ticks from Mexico are a constant threat to the livestock and wildlife industries. The vigilance of inspectors in collecting, identifying and submitting ticks to the state-federal tick surveillance program is essential to early detection and quarantine procedures that protect the cattle industry from tick transmitted pathogens causing Texas cattle fever or bovine babesiosis.
This year’s attendees consisted of employees involved not only in surveillance and regulatory work and but also research. The diverse audience experiences and perspectives enriche the class discussion and the different questions asked by the participants keep everyone involved throughout the workshop. The laboratory portion devoted to tick identification was integrated with a chute-side demonstration of the inspection of tick infested cattle at the Veterinary Medical Research Park.
“This workshop has been one of the most rewarding teaching experiences in my career. The participants are highly motivated to learn and eager to apply the material to their job responsibilities,” Teel said.
The agencies involved in the workshop are all focused on primary animal health issues associated with cattle fever ticks. The class also received instruction on other exotic ticks and tick-borne diseases that have been detected in Texas and the consequences they have posed for regulatory authorities.
“The success of the course has greatly benefited from the assistance of Otto Strey, Texas AgriLife Research Tick Research Laboratory, and Lance Brauckman and Dale Preston of the State-Federal Laboratory in Austin,” he said.