Author Topic: ticks turning victims into vegetarians??!  (Read 2735 times)

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Offline jessica

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ticks turning victims into vegetarians??!
« on: November 20, 2012, 12:26:35 pm »
not really sure how i feel about this  :(

http://grist.org/news/ticks-are-turning-victims-into-vegetarians/

There is now scientific confirmation of the tick-borne meat allergies we first told you about in August. From ABC News:

A bite from the lone star tick, so-called for the white spot on its back, looks innocent enough. But researchers say saliva that sneaks into the wound might trigger a 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.


Lone star ticks are an “aggressive” species, but scientists are having a hard time proving a causal relationship between the tick bites and the meat allergies. What they do know: “blood levels of antibodies for alpha-gal, a sugar found in beef, lamb and pork, rise after a single bite from the lone star tick.”

The mammal meat allergies are striking those in southern and central parts of the country. From The Huffington Post:

Rates of the allergy to alpha-gal (short for galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, which is a sugar carbohydrate in red meat) are 32 percent higher in these parts of the U.S., where there is also a higher prevalence of lone-star ticks.

Ticks are now more common in more parts of the country — and year-round. “This year’s mild winter and early spring were a bonanza for tick populations in the eastern United States,” the National Science Foundation reported in September. “Reports of tick-borne disease rose fast.” Moreover, “Identifying health risks in the face of changing climates will be critical in coming years.” Especially as disease-ridden ticks are active and reproducing year-round above 38 degrees. Basically, ticks love our warming planet.

So don’t forget to tuck those pants into your hiking boots this weekend! And forever after!

Offline Wattlebird

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Re: ticks turning victims into vegetarians??!
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2012, 01:08:11 pm »
An occpational hazard for a nature bum  ;) 27 and counting so far this year! None from ticks with white backs though.

Offline Inger

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Re: ticks turning victims into vegetarians??!
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2012, 02:43:58 pm »
Hmmm.. one more reason to stay cold..lol
Ticks never liked me, I never got bit, not once AFAIK. And I never cared to be careful but always run barefoot in grass and lied down in the forest to rest. When I lived in Germany too where were lots of ticks. Maybe I am just happy.. or they don't like how I smell and taste because of what I eat? Who knows.. I am sure there must be something to it.. might be ticks do not like carnivores..?
I do not want to get bit for sure (a family friend in his 40ies died last year from borrelia :( ), so I am happy they seem not to like me..

Offline RawZi

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Re: ticks turning victims into vegetarians??!
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2012, 10:30:32 pm »
    I think I had problems swelling with cooked meat since I was a baby. And I don't mean fried or spicy.  I don't think I came in contact with a tick though.
"Genuine truth angers people in general because they don't know what to do with the energy generated by a glimpse of reality." Greg W. Goodwin

 

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