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A Hereford cow and calf roam in Miles City, Mont. Scientists developed a vaccine for foothill abortion, a tick-borne malady that devastated calf populations in the West.
How scientists removed one of the most devastating impediments to cattle production in the West.
This mysterious cause of abortion in cattle was first recognized in foothill regions of coastal and central California, but also occurs in southern Oregon, parts of Nevada and Arizona.
The pathogen causing death of the fetus is transmitted by bites of a soft-bodied tick (
Ornithodoros
coriaceus) that inhabits these regions. Jeff Stott, a professor in the University of California, Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine, has spent more than 40 years studying this disease and the ticks that cause it.