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A bizarre, life-threatening tick-borne illness has made hundreds residents of Martha’s Vineyard allergic to red meat and dairy — turning many of them into forced vegans and “social pariahs” at the height of BBQ season on the ritzy island. Skyrocketing cases of alpha-gal syndrome — a disease spread by bites from the Lone Star Tick— have ripped through the scenic summer hotspot with a total of 523 reported last year, according to the Times of London. “I woke up at 2 a.m. with major stomach cramps and thought I had food poisoning,” said Andrew Keenan, a 58-year-old former chef, who...

ABSTRACT The bite of the lone star tick spreads alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a condition whose only effect is the creation of a severe but nonfatal red meat allergy. Public health departments warn against lone star ticks and AGS, and scientists are working to develop an inoculation to AGS. Herein, we argue that if eating meat is morally impermissible, then efforts to prevent the spread of tickborne AGS are also morally impermissible. After explaining the symptoms of AGS and how they are transmitted via ticks, we argue that tickborne AGS is a moral bioenhancer if and when it motivates people to...

Hundreds of thousands of Americans may be infected with a tick-born illness that causes an allergy to meat without knowing it, according to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention. Alpha-Gal syndrome, or AGS, is caused by the bite of a lone star tick, which can be identified by a white dot on its back. The saliva of the tick will cause those who have been infected to have a reaction to red meat, including pork and lamb. They may also have reactions to gelatin or dairy products. This illness can also infect all mammals, not just humans. Symptoms of the...

He became an involuntary vegan. A New Jersey man is now allergic to red meat after getting bitten by an invasive species of tick — which has left him unable to consume steak, pork or even dairy products without suffering a serious reaction. “It just flipped everything — turned my life upside down completely,” Craig Smith, 62, told NJ.com of his unwilling conversion to vegetarianism. “You get so frustrated. Food becomes an enemy to you.” The Cream Ridge retiree specifically suffers from Alpha-gal syndrome, a potentially life-threatening allergy that triggers an immune reaction to a sugar molecule (carbohydrate galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose) found...

You may just be one tick bite away from never being able to eat a ham sandwich again. The lone star tick is making its way into Massachusetts from the southeastern part of the United States. People will find them on Nantucket and the coast. The tick's bite can cause some people to develop an unexpected food allergy. "The reason we are seeing more coastal areas is because there is a substantial difference when it comes to temperature in coastal regions than inlands," explained Dr. Goudarz Molaei, Chief Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. "In some municipalities it has...

Loren Grush, Popular Science August 18, 2014The 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...

An Oklahoma man has died after acquiring the Heartland virus, making him the second person in the U.S. to die after coming down with the illness, state health officials said Tuesday. The state Department of Health released few details but said the man was from Delaware County in northeast Oklahoma, was over the age of 65 and died recently from complications of the virus, which is found in the lone star tick and is likely spread through tick bites. The virus was first identified in 2009, in Missouri. …