Current Events > Tick which causes meat allergy in humans are expanding their territory

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/us/lone-star-tick-bite-meat-allergy.html

One night in 2008, Deborah Fleshman awoke in her bed to find that her legs had turned beetroot red. Welts, some a foot wide, had appeared along her torso.

Ms. Fleshman, a nurse at the time, had earlier that evening hosted a cookout at her home in Greenwood, Del., a town of about 1,000 people 25 miles south of Dover. She drank a couple of beers. She ate a cheeseburger.

Hours later, she told her worried father, I feel like Im dying.

Ms. Fleshman, now 60, is among the thousands of Americans diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome, an allergic reaction to mammal meats like pork, beef and lamb, which growing evidence shows can be triggered by a tick bite.

It feels like youre on fire, and then it feels like you slept with a cactus, she said. The itching is unbearable.

Researchers have traced the syndrome to the lone star tick, named for the signature white splotch, or lone star, on females backs. Theyre historically found in the southern United States, but increasingly, these arachnids are being spotted in parts of the Midwest and the Northeast.

The ticks territory is expanding, thanks in part to global warming, say scientists. With more hot days each year, the ticks, which thrive in warm and humid conditions, have more time to feed on their hosts and reproduce. At the same time, alpha-gal diagnoses appear to be rising.
What were now seeing is a wide open door for ticks to continue expanding their range further northward; bringing more people into the fold of the arthropod-borne diseases, said Michael Raupp, a professor emeritus in entomology at the University of Maryland.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 2004 and 2019, the total number of tick-borne diseases in the United States more than doubled. In the meantime, other devastating pests that were previously constrained by cooler temperatures like the dengue virus-carrying tiger mosquito, or the cabbage-munching harlequin bug have also marched forth beyond their historic ranges.

Were venturing into uncharted waters in so many dimensions with climate change, Dr. Raupp said.

By nature, ticks are travelers; they attach themselves to hosts in order to suck their blood, hitching a ride in the process. Scientists say an explosion in the population of the white-tailed deer, their primary host, has also helped them to spread.
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According to some maps, the lone star tick has advanced as far west as parts of Nebraska, and as far northeast as Maine. Climatic conditions are also suitable for the ticks to establish populations along the coast of Washington, Oregon and California, other models indicate.

And today a new fear was born.

*cheers in vegan*

This is why I avoid nature.

But what if someone had a villain origin story where they intentionally would infect people with this?

Not gonna lie, I had a tick bite in 2016 and around the same time mammal meat started making me sick so I became vegetarian...

what the fuck...

do i have alpha-gal?

edit: never had any of those symptoms. I just throw up within 10 minutes if I eat meat.

I fucking hate these little shits. I find 2-5 of them on me every time I have to cruise timber. Luckily they have to stay on you for a certain amount of time to give you the allergy, but I wish the possum population would explode and decimate these parasites.

Okay, that's a new nightmare scenario I didn't need.

I mean, holy shit.

Imagine celebrating this, though. Asshole move.

voldothegr8 posted...

syndrome, an allergic reaction to mammal meats like pork, beef and lamb, which growing evidence shows can be triggered by a tick bite.

Does this mean chicken and seafood is still safe?

But yeah, fucked up stuff regardless.

Karmic, almost.

Umbreon posted...

Does this mean chicken and seafood is still safe?

But yeah, fucked up stuff regardless.

Yeah chicken and seafood is still fair game. But youre only at real risk of the meat allergy if you just have the thing latched onto you for so many hours. Youll definitely feel an annoying itch before that point.

AmishDoinks420 posted...

But youre only at real risk of the meat allergy if you just have the thing latched onto you for so many hours.

Didn't know that bit,thanks.

gunplagirl posted...

But what if someone had a villain origin story where they intentionally would infect people with this?

obligatory ProZD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPUgjy-Pn-4

vegan agenda things

Don't mess with Texas!

Vegans trying to kill us in a slow agonizing way.

We might have to bring back the really nasty chemicals to get rid of the ticks, these ticks are too dangerous for urban environments.

Strider102 posted...

Vegans trying to kill us in a slow agonizing way.

life without meat will not kill you. please stop

Giant_Aspirin posted...

life without meat will not kill you. please stop

Life with meat will also have the same effects. Please stop.

AmishDoinks420 posted...

Youll definitely feel an annoying itch before that point.

ticks don't really feel itchy or anything. you notice them either through sight, or through running your hands over parts of your body and finding a weird piece of "dirt" that doesn't come off and then you pay more attention and it's actually a tick

in general if you go somewhere you think might have ticks you should specifically check for them when you get home, preferably with the help of a mirror

We should probably do something about this global warming business

Always important to tick check yourself when you get home after being outdoors in tick territory. Almost all the really nasty tick-borne diseases are difficult to catch if you get them off of you within 24 hours of getting bit.

Giant_Aspirin posted...

*cheers in vegan*

*backhands*

>Fleshman

Ok her name is pretty funny with this story.

Antifar posted...

We should probably do something about this global warming business

I have seen more ticks this spring than in all the rest of my life combined

it's very clearly getting worse, noticeable at a personal level not even with fancy stats/analysis

This is a nightmare

Giant_Aspirin posted...

life without meat will not kill you. please stop

If everyone went vegan, nobody would need farm animals. Ain't nobody raising them after that.

What's the point of being an omnivore if you pretend you're a herbivore?

That said I'm all for preventing animal cruelty. I just don't consider eating them to be cruel.

I know someone that got this. He's able to eat red meat now but for years he couldn't touch it at all

SuperShake666 posted...

If everyone went vegan, nobody would need farm animals. Ain't nobody raising them after that.

Guard-chickens, tho...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/2/2/AAEhCpAADPc6.jpg

if You cook the meeat can you destroy its impact on humans?

Funnily enough, this allergy wouldn't effect me much since I've given up most red meats for my health. Still would suck, though.

Thank God I live in a place where these things cant survive. Humans barely survive here

Smashingpmkns posted...

Thank God I live in a place where these things cant survive. Humans barely survive here

Phoenix?

AmishDoinks420 posted...

I fucking hate these little shits. I find 2-5 of them on me every time I have to cruise timber. Luckily they have to stay on you for a certain amount of time to give you the allergy, but I wish the possum population would explode and decimate these parasites.

Not true. That's true for deer ticks and lyme disease but as far as I know you can get the allergy pretty fast if not instantly from the lone star ticks. The good news though, is that only a small percentage of people are ever going to get that allergy from the bite. My friend has it though and it sucks. Though it's lessened in severity over the years.

The crazy thing about Lone Star ticks is how they are faster than other ticks and will chase you down unlike deer ticks that camp out and wait for people to go by.

TendoDRM posted...

Phoenix?

Fuck that. Vegas lol

Smashingpmkns posted...

Fuck that. Vegas lol

Lol that was gonna be my next guess.

The only thing I can basically eat is meat, so I'd be incredibly fucked.

As others have said, the good news is that the allergy will go away after a few years.

Also, we need to introduce more turkeys. A turkey can eat 1000+ ticks a day.

Smashingpmkns posted...

Fuck that. Vegas lol

"We have avoided the ecosystem by creating a monument of decadence in a vast ocean of nothing" is a weird way to avoid parasites but it does work.

Hopefully the tick would just kill me with gangrene rather than give me meat allergy.

SuperShake666 posted...

If everyone went vegan, nobody would need farm animals. Ain't nobody raising them after that.

yeah that's the idea

Imagine hating carnivores so much you hope they get an allergy just so you can act superior.

Now imagine if a tick gave you an allergy to vegetables or vegan products.

Also you don't feel a tick on you. This is why it's important to check for ticks after you've walked through any kind of brush. Even just lightly. Apparently they have numbing agents in their saliva so you won't feel them like you would other bug bites. I always check once I get home, make sure to put my clothes in a sealed bin until I wash them, then check for ticks again the following morning.

SuperShake666 posted...

If everyone went vegan, nobody would need farm animals. Ain't nobody raising them after that.

If we didn't eat meat, the cows will overrun the land and eat your salad..

Ever thought about that?

Strider102 posted...

Imagine hating carnivores so much you hope they get an allergy just so you can act superior.

first, i dont hate carnivores.

second, it's not so much "man, i really hope everyone gets this allergy" but more "well, of all things that could happen to someone as a result of an allergy from a bug bite, not being able to eat meat is a pretty okay outcome". it literally won't hurt you, you just won't be able to enjoy certain flavors.

Nature telling us to go vegan??

GiftedACIII posted...

Nature telling us to go vegan??

god's plan, he created this wonderful creature to fix us and punish our hubris

kawalimus posted...

I always check once I get home, make sure to put my clothes in a sealed bin until I wash them, then check for ticks again the following morning.

for what it's worth, ticks have no problem surviving a washing machine. so I hope you're putting them in the drier afterward instead of hanging them

kirbymuncher posted...

I hope you're putting them in the drier afterward

Tick-infested clothing in a drier.

The forbidden popcorn.

Has there been any progress on formulating a cure? Or something better to kill ticks with?