A cattle disease carried by ticks is now confirmed in Iowa for the first time in a herd of cows in southeast Iowa. Iowa State University Extension veterinarian Grant Dewell says the Theileria parasite has slowly moved from the eastern United States.
It is spread by the Asian Long Horned Tick.
He says the main prevention is tick control and getting rid of them.
Dr. Dewell says the cattle are not going to want to move, so you have to keep food and water in front of them. He says for a valuable cow, like a prized bull, they might do some blood transfusions. Dewell says this tick doesn’t have a taste for human blood, and sticks to certain animals.
Dewell says the disease has been in Missouri for a couple of years and took that long to get to Iowa.
