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Tick eradication program administrative files, 1960-1961.
Amount:
3.0 cubic ft.
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Organization/Arrangement:
Arranged by subject.
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Biographical/Historical:
The State Live Stock Sanitary Board was created in 1923 (Ch. 9201, Laws) to regulate Florida's livestock industry. With seven to nine members chosen by the governor, the board regulated the import and export of meat and livestock, inspected meat sellers, and controlled animal diseases such as cattle tick fever, hog cholera, and tuberculosis. The board also appointed a state veterinarian to oversee day to day operations. The first state veterinarian was J.V. Knapp. His successor was C.L. Campbell, who served from 1952-1961. In 1953, the Board's name was changed to the Florida Livestock Board. That Board was abolished in January 1961 and its duties transferred to the Dept. Of Agriculture's Division of Animal Industry (Ch. 59-54; CH. 61-59, Laws). One of the major functions of the Board was the eradication of tick fevers. In the early 1900s, the Texas Tick fever entered Florida from imported cattle. By the 1920s, the State Livestock Sanitary Board was requiring all cattle owners to dip their cows with an arsenic solution every 14 days. The state reimbursed them 3 cents for every head of cattle. In 1935, the tropical tick fever broke resulting in more treatments and board-led destruction of thousands of white-tail deer which they believed harbored the tick.
In June 1960, cattle were discovered infected with Texas tick fever in Jupiter, Florida. Immediately, the Florida Livestock Board issued a quarantine on cattle in Martin and West Palm Beach counties, which was later extended to other South Florida counties. The board, along with inspectors from the U.S. Agriculture Dept., began an intense eradication program involving arsenic dippings and tick inspections. The state gave the board $300,000 of emergency funds for the program. The fever, also known as piroplasmosis, was caused by the Texas tick (Boophilus amulatus). This was the first occurrence of the fever in Florida for thirty years. The eradication efforts were continued by the Florida Dept. of Agriculture's Division of Animal Industry in late 1961.
Summary:
This series consists of administrative and statistical records of the State Livestock Sanitary Board's Texas fever tick eradication program from 1960 and 1961. Records include weekly reports, tick status reports, tick classification reports, lists of employees, and cattle inspection reports. These records provide evidence of the Board's many eradication methods including cattle dipping, quarantines, and inspections. Also included are field report slips filled out by board and USDA tick inspectors at markets, dips, and inspection stations.The series also provides information on the state's cattle industry, and the veterinarian field of the mid-twentieth century.
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Folder listing available. 0
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Associated Materials:
Series S1888, Tick Eradication Files, 1933-1958, and S52, Florida Live Stock Sanitary Board Scrapbooks, 1926-1960, contain related information from this office.
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Florida. State Livestock Sanitary Board. Florida Livestock Board. United States. Dept. of Agriculture.
Animal industry Florida Agriculture Florida Cattle Florida Veterinarians Florida Ranches Florida Tick-borne diseases in animals. Insect pests Control. Cattle dip.
Reports. aat
for detailed listing.