Posted on 08/18/2014 7:41:22 PM PDT by blam
Loren Grush, Popular Science
August 18, 2014
The Lone Star tick.
Mike Abley will always remember the last hamburger he ever ate. It was more than 20 years ago, and he recalls the meat being particularly juicy and delicious.
But a few hours after dinner, Abley started itching like mad. He burst into hives, his tongue swelled, and he eventually passed out, prompting his wife to call 911. At the hospital, doctors determined he had gone into anaphylactic shock—a potentially deadly allergic reaction.
Fortunately, Abley pulled through, and he later met with an allergist to determine what had caused the terrifying episode. A series of tests revealed something strange: The hamburger had triggered the reaction. And it wasn’t just the beef he was allergic to; it was practically all red meat.
“I’ve always said I think it’s karma,” says Abley, now 73, a lifetime resident of Virginia. “My family have been cattle ranchers for generations.”
Abley is one of at least 1,500 people in the United States who suffer allergic reactions after eating meat, and doctors interviewed by Popular Science believe such cases are on the rise. But what’s even more bizarre is the source of the allergy. The condition, called alpha-gal allergy, is caused by the bite of a Lone Star tick—a species traditionally found mostly in the Southern United States but has spread farther north in recent years.
And as the tick spreads, more and more cases of meat allergies are being reported. In one area of Long Island, New York, for example, one doctor we spoke with has seen and increase of 200 cases in the past three years—up from practically zero in 2011.
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Well...that little bug has got to go.
When I first heard about this a year or so back they said the allergy passes after a few months.
Thanks!
Obviously, poor underage Lone Star ticks have been crossing out of the Lone Star State to look for a better life elsewhere. We should welcome them. They are the future. Arugula for all!
These people are seriously disturbed.
I thionk the bug makes one into a demonrat...not a meat hater.
But that doesn’t make for a good hyperventilating headline.
Its bad enough to develop a sudden meat allergy that lasts a few months, let alone a lifetime.
Lost my Lady Labrador to those b@stard deer ticks! I did EVERYTHING right! Weekly flea and tick baths, tick goop between her shoulder blades, a tick collar, etc.
But, when Labradors get Lyme’s Disease, it wrecks their kidneys before they show ANY symptoms. Lost my girl in only three months. A total waste of an amazing dog. Grrr!
Why? Seriously, God? What on Earth could be the possible reason for these mother f*ckers being allowed to exist?
Because I’m pretty SURE we ‘get it’ as far as the parasites FEEDING off of the hosts!
George W Bush probably raises these Lone Star ticks on his ranch, in Crawford.
I got bit by an ‘alpha-gal’ once.
Wasn’t altogether bad.
I even considered marrying her.
Obviously, poor underage Lone Star ticks have been crossing out of the Lone Star State to look for a better life elsewhere. We should welcome them. They are the future. Arugula for all!
Haven’t heard of a tick since 1985 or so, the fire ants took them down. And we used to have the fat female ticks, gorged with blood, to pull off our dogs.
Winter’s coming. It’s got to be a “global warming” thing. Time for Algore to have a few “global warming” conferences.
In some cases those bitten may be able to eat meat after a period of time is what I read. There were numerous articles about it locally. I live in NC and we were assured the tick was in VA but not here. I wondered how the little buggers knew to stop at the state line seeing as they can’t read. Apparently they were here all along, which makes me doubt everything else I read about them.
Yes. I understand he does it hydroponically.
Not in Michigan...yet.
Oh crap, my town is in yellow.
So eat canned tuna fish..........
It almost seems there is a gene in a large percentage of the populace that gets comfort from spreading information like this far and wide.
How may of these things really play out? Almost none, but hey lets not let that stop us from the next frenzy of fear.
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