Tick bites make you allergic to meat

[justamouse]

This is insane

"There's a new weapon in the war on meat: a tiny tick, whose bite might be spreading meat allergies up the East Coast.

 

A bite from the lone star tick, so-called for the white spot on its back, looks innocent enough. But University of Virginia researchers say saliva that sneaks into the tiny wound may trigger an allergic reaction to meat -- agonizing enough to convert lifelong carnivores into wary vegetarians.

 

"People will eat beef and then anywhere from three to six hours later start having a reaction; anything from hives to full-blown anaphylactic shock," said Dr. Scott Commins, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. "And most people want to avoid having the reaction, so they try to stay away from the food that triggers it."

 

Commins said cases of the bizarre allergy are popping up along the East Coast and into the Bible Belt, areas ripe with lone star ticks. He's already seen 400 or so. And 90 percent of them have a history of tick bites, he said.

 

"It's hard to prove," he said of the link between lone star ticks and meat allergies. "We're still searching for the mechanism."

[Jennay]

I read about that the other day. So crazy.

John Grisham, the famous author, apparently suffers from a meat allergy due to ticks.

[Serenade]

Eek! Ticks bites occur regularly around here. Now another thing to worry about...

[my2boysteacher]

The insects are trying to take back the planet. :lol:

[bluemongoose]

I have not been bitten by a tick (do not live in an area where lone star ticks are), but I do have an allergy to meat. It sucks and I feel bad for others who are developing these allergies.

[CatMomof3]

My dh was telling me about this over breakfast this morning. I thought he was joking.

[MerryAtHope]

Sad but doesn't surprise me. My dh was disabled 12 years ago from Lyme disease, and has all kinds of allergies/sensitivities now that he never had before, plus joint pain and all kinds of other issues (has to walk with a cane now and he's only 45). Our lives have been totally turned upside down by this disease. I pray one day they find a real cure for it. If you catch it in the first year, you can usually get rid of it, but after that...for us it's been like living with a mix of MS, Parkinson's, Chemical Sensitivities, and Alzheimer's.

 

Merry

[frugalmama]

Wow...I can't imagine being allergic to all meat. I developed a pork allergy over a year ago and just dealing with that is hard enough.