Meat Allergy From Tick Bites!

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #1

What? Really? BBC Again

I’ve put this US study in garbage … please move if contested

(Mark) #2

I have heard anecdotally that there is truth to this.

(Michael) #3

Yah, my dad got this, took years before he could eat red meat again. Loving it today though.

(Polly) #4

Crikey. We are in peak tick season here. I normallly check the dog when we get back to the car, but maybe I should be checking myself too.

Not being able to eat red meat would be a nightmare.

(Edith) #5

Yeah, it is legit. I think it only happens if the tick munched on a mammal before biting a person.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608

#6

Yes. It is a real allergy following a tick bite. Not sure if it is the Lone Star tick. I think that is Lyme’s Disease. First heard about it on Radiolab in 2016. They did a story reprise in 2022.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #7

Blimey, the No1 enemy has moved from Carbs to Covid to Ticks!
I didn’t mean to alarm anyone. Seems this should be moved outta the ‘Garbage’.

#8

I don’t even remember if I was able to eat red meat, I was too sick to worry about anything.

(Geoffrey) #9

Oh it’s definitely legit and living in tick country I certainly hope I never get it since I’m a carnivore. I’ve only encountered one person who had it and they eventually got over it but it took a long time.

(Bob M) #10

Lyme is usually a deer tick.

And, unfortunately, it’s the tick nymph that carries Lyme, and this is a small tick. My daughter and wife both think they saw the tick that caused Lyme in my daughter, but it was so small they thought it was a small scab.

The Lone Star tick is one I’ve never seen, although it’s supposedly in New England:

It carries the allergy.

It could be that I’ve seen one and just thought it was a deer tick.

#11

So you’re denying alpha gal exists or something? Seriously? I know 3 people that have it.

#12

There’s nothing anecdotal about it, it’s far from new news and has been screwing people up for years.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #13

I’d never heard of it! When I first read the story I thought it was an anti meat story! Not denying it, just outraged by such a dreadful creature.

#14

It would be quite horrible for some of us. I used to be able to eat no meat for several years but it would be very problematic now, to put it lightly. Red meat is the main pillar of my diet and I have too few of them, I can’t afford losing one.
Thankfully I never had a bad tick bite. Okay, all are bad, I rarely call anything gross but ticks, they do it. I hate them and kill so very many every year. Most are lurking in the cats but I get one here and there, it’s unavoidable here,

#15

It’s interesting to find out more about the Lone Star tick. It is an aggressive tick and very active in seeking mammals to feed on. More aggressive than other ticks. And that’s what makes it interesting to read about and why/how a southern states tick got into the north east of the USA.

Where I live we have kangaroo ticks. They sound gentle compared to the Lone Star. Over on Australia’s east coast we used to have to deal with a tick carried by native mammals called bandicoots that kills pet dogs and cats in the summer season. It’s called the Paralysis Tick. If a human hiker (we call those people bush walkers) gets enough mature female paralysis ticks on them, 30 or so, the venom can cause paralysis of muscles including breathing. That is rare, though. But, yay, :australia: Australia.

It was dealing with Paralysis Ticks and also reading about Lyme’s disease that got me looking at Lone Star ticks.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #16

In the U.S., there are a couple of other tick-borne illnesses besides Lyme disease. I live not far from Lyme, so Lyme disease is very prevalent here, but I was at a gathering last evening and a friend turns out to be recovering from babesiosis, which has different symptoms but is equally devastating. The other U.S. tick-borne disease that gets attention is called Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is apparently about as much fun as Lyme disease and babesiosis, oy!

#17

Ticks are bad news. Support your local Opossums!

(Polly) #18

I live in SW UK. We are rural. I see deer ticks and sheep ticks on the dog. It is a never ending ritual at this time of year. I hope the lone star tick stays in its geographical location. Good luck tick crushers everywhere.