010505 Texas & USA Fights Cattle Disease Along Border

A group of modern-day "cowboys" along the Rio Grande are on a mission for the U.S. government looking for hints of foot-and-mouth disease along the border.

Using science and a bit of the Old West, the United States and Mexico have long battled foot-and-mouth disease.

South Texas knew it as hoof-and-mouth disease at the turn of the 20th century. The last case in the United States was in 1929. In the 1940s and 1950s, there was a military-style operation south of the border to eradicate the disease.

"This foot-and-mouth sounds pretty serious, and we don't want it to get out of hand," USDA inspector Efrain Villarreal said. Inspector Fred Garza said that they are prepared to fight the disease if it ever appears in America.

Bill Coble, a U.S.D.A. inspector, said that it would have a devastating effect in the United States.

"It could devastate the market or the whole cattle industry in the United States if it should ever get here," Coble said.

On horseback over rugged terrain along the Rio Grande, "tick riders," employed by the USDA, search for livestock strays, sick or smuggled from Mexico.

Thousands of Mexican cattle per month are checked for fever ticks at a Nuevo Laredo stockyard, where they are dipped in a chemical bath before entering the United States.

One live tick on one cow can quarantine an entire herd of 100 for 10 to 14 days.

Veterinarians, hired by the U.S. government and the state of Texas, study microscopic samples taken from the cattle.

This is one of the reasons why inspectors say that the border has been free of tick fever, foot-and-mouth disease and mad cow disease for decades.

"We've done a good job, and we've been lucky to boot, maybe a little bit of both," veterinarian Dr. James Schlinke said.

The veterinarian said that a big concern is what isn't inspected when tourists often claim they are not bringing anything back when asked by U.S. Customs.

He also said that smuggling of people and drugs increases the risk of disease entering the United States.

One Mexican veterinarian said that cattle raisers are still worried, especially if an outbreak ever closes the border.

But for now, prices are good, and the stampede to market is on.

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