PSA: Lone Star Tick Bite Causes Human Allergy

[whitehat]

Public Service Announcement!

There was an GMA Health Alert on ABC News this AM. It seems that a Lone Star Tick bite injects a sugar compound into the human body which causes antibodies against this sugar to be developed. Unfortunately red meat (beef, pork, and lamb) also contains this compound. Several hours after eating red meat, a person with the antibodies develops a severe allergic reaction requiring emergency hospitalization.

Here are some more articles about this:

CDC - Approximate Distribution of the Lone Star Tick - Ticks

Victims of Lone Star tick bites are developing serious allergies to meat - The Week

The Lone Star Tick Can Give You a Meat Allergy! : Health & Medicine : Nature World News

A tick bite can make you allergic to red meat - CBS News

A bite from this tick can make you allergic to red meat | Fox News

Tick Seen on Long Island Can Trigger Allergy to Red Meat | NBC New York

 

[Unforgiven]

I saw this the other day. Allergic to red meat.

 

[sfbloodbrother]

That's in my area...

At least we're not turning into zombies just yet.

 

[Rxpert83]

Haven't seen this yet. I'll have to do some digging around for more info this afternoon. Many times the media way overblows stuff like this.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Unforgiven]

It's some sugar acid that isn't normal in humans but is in beef. No big deal when we consume beef, but when introduced via the tick bite an immune reaction to it is developed.

 

[whitehat]

Bump so that people who missed this the first time can see it now.