The allergy, called alpha-gal syndrome, came to light a little over a decade ago.
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Tick bites can cause meat allergies—up to 450,000 people in US may be affected
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Hair of the dog. You just have to eat the tick that bit you.
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but what if he bites me inside of my stomach after that? I won't be able to eat him again!
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I ended up catastrophically disabled after a tick bite and rocky mountain spotted fever. The wholesale eradication of not just ticks, but all obligate parasites would be a boon for the world.
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You just wait a while. You'll be able to eat him again.
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A bunch of states crossed from my "I'll visit list" Also, could this finally prompt the makers of my dogs tick medication to get FDA approval, I want to make my blood deadly to those suckers.
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If any of those states were on your recreational travel list before today, I recommend upping your standards.
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Mother nature 'well climate change isn't working fast enough so lets just make humans allergic to everything they eat'.
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The tone-star tick,
Meat makes one sick,
<clap><clap><clap><clap>
Deep in the heart......of Texas...
Meat makes one sick,
<clap><clap><clap><clap>
Deep in the heart......of Texas...
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Had an episode of bed bugs after visiting Europe (France), the picture of this article brings back bad memories of those little fuckers!
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I read an article years ago that I can't find, blaming tick populations on the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. It wasn't peer reviewed, but an independent study by a PhD researcher.
I spray my shoes, socks and pants with Permethrin. Safe and effective (for the most part). Anyone that spends time outside should use it, on clothes and camp gear such as tents and ground cloths, also.
I have found ticks on me, none attached and they didn't look happy.
I wear mostly synthetics so DEET is not an option as it melts it.
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Look at the map -- the tick is named for the markings, not it's geographical range.
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This is why I like SCUBA. Maybe I'll get bitten or stung by something venomous or torn apart by sharks, but at least as far as we know, there's nothing that will take away my tacos and burgers for the rest of my life if I come back.
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Note that the most insidious part of this can be the allergy to mammal-derived gelatin, as these are used without any disclosure in many medications.
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I first heard about this on a Radiolab episode. This poor woman was repeatedly told she was full of crap about being allergic to meat, just like others that were reporting similar symptoms.
A researcher took a map of people reporting these symptoms and had people start going through all kinds of data to find a map that overlapped. It matched up with Rocky Mountain Fever. The doctor ended up getting bit by a tick and getting the allergy himself.
It's a good episode, like 4 years old or so.
A researcher took a map of people reporting these symptoms and had people start going through all kinds of data to find a map that overlapped. It matched up with Rocky Mountain Fever. The doctor ended up getting bit by a tick and getting the allergy himself.
It's a good episode, like 4 years old or so.
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I looked up the linked study describing the allergy and the abstract goes,
What heathen out there is eating cats?!
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It is clearly a left wing conspiracy to force everyone to become a vegetarian. Notice the states affected - mostly Republicans. Chance? No way.
And even the lone Colorado county (Jackson) with a high prevalence makes sense once you realize that the largest town is Steamboat Springs which appears to be largely populated by Texans.
(Only partially serious. If it really was Texans, then the entire SE part of Colorado should light right up. Maybe it is a certain flavor of Texan.)
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As if we needed another reason to eradicate ticks. Screw using CRISPR on mosquitos - spend the time on eradicating ticks instead. Frankly I could do without those too, but ticks are more important. Just kill them all.
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My brother has a variant of this caused by long COVID. To put it mildly, it sucks.
Right now, he has to cook his veggies until they are practically mush and stay away from all fish, beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, and cheese; his protein is essentially limited to soy and seitan.
About the only good thing that has come from this is he has discovered all sorts of new and interesting recipes.
Right now, he has to cook his veggies until they are practically mush and stay away from all fish, beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, and cheese; his protein is essentially limited to soy and seitan.
About the only good thing that has come from this is he has discovered all sorts of new and interesting recipes.
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Interesting that any positive IgE result is considered to be a case of alpha-gal. I wonder if that might overstate the numbers a bit as one would WAG that some people with low levels would be asymptomatic.
I doubt this would change the conclusions, but it is an odd diagnostic criteria.
I doubt this would change the conclusions, but it is an odd diagnostic criteria.
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I did notice the irony of meat allergy mainly being spread in deep red states where "real men eat meat and lots of it!" But I'm not confident in that shit not spreading, so I'll hold back any jokes.
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I presume that includes lion, tiger, jaguar, cougar, leopard and cheetah?
Just curious.
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Tangentially, the worst tick‑borne disease is probably Lyme. We (or the US, to be precise) had a working and safe Lyme vaccine in the 1990s (at least against the US strain). Only it was shuttered by anti‑vaxxers and greedy lawyers a few years later.
There is now a new Lyme vaccine in phase‑3 trials. Last time I looked, you can apply. The researchers I know who are working on it are pretty hopeful about its efficacy. Since Lyme can be such a nasty disease (the bacteria can evade immune system for years, laying dormant, til it strikes causing "chronic" lyme), I have high hopes for the vaccine.
Same with tick‑borne encephalitis. While not as much prevalent in all the places, it's still quite endemic in Asia and Europe. And it can be totally debilitating – I know a few patients who ended up on ICU and still have really big neurological problems years later from it.
Thankfully, a working vaccine exists for TBE. Highly suggested if TBE is in your area, and it lasts around three years or more.
Incidentally, it seems that alpha‑gal syndrome has been discovered even in Europe now. While really rare so far, it's not just Australia and Texas that it can happen. Apparently, it's not just the Australian or Texas ticks that can cause it, even if it's much rarer when bitten by other species of ticks.
Knowing some tick scientists myself, I have my heartfelt admirations to them. It takes a special kind of people to go outside and "gather" ticks en masse for research...
As for personal protection from ticks:
There is now a new Lyme vaccine in phase‑3 trials. Last time I looked, you can apply. The researchers I know who are working on it are pretty hopeful about its efficacy. Since Lyme can be such a nasty disease (the bacteria can evade immune system for years, laying dormant, til it strikes causing "chronic" lyme), I have high hopes for the vaccine.
Same with tick‑borne encephalitis. While not as much prevalent in all the places, it's still quite endemic in Asia and Europe. And it can be totally debilitating – I know a few patients who ended up on ICU and still have really big neurological problems years later from it.
Thankfully, a working vaccine exists for TBE. Highly suggested if TBE is in your area, and it lasts around three years or more.
Incidentally, it seems that alpha‑gal syndrome has been discovered even in Europe now. While really rare so far, it's not just Australia and Texas that it can happen. Apparently, it's not just the Australian or Texas ticks that can cause it, even if it's much rarer when bitten by other species of ticks.
Knowing some tick scientists myself, I have my heartfelt admirations to them. It takes a special kind of people to go outside and "gather" ticks en masse for research...
As for personal protection from ticks:
- Get vaccinated, Lyme and TBE if possible.
- Clothing, long trousers et cetera.
- Picaridin repellent (better than DEET, doesn't dissolve nylon and other plastics) beats any "natural" essential oil repellents.
- Treat your clothing with permethrin (while a neurotoxic insecticide, it still beats getting infected if in a high risk area).
- Please do adhere to proper environmental protocols when applying permethrin coating to clothing, since it's really toxic to some wildlife, cats and fish (and slightly to humans). Never spray it in nature. Never spray it indoors. Never spray it next to water or whenever runoff flows into streams. Best protocol is soaking the clothes in a jug or plastic bag, neutralising the leftover residual water with plenty of bleach (chlorine bleach neutralises it pretty well). Never use permethrin‑like insect candles (like "ThermaCell") in nature, since these just give out lots of aerosols of toxic insecticide all around them. ThermaCell is banned for outdoor use in some countries because of that.
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So further on, it’s clarified the Fel-1 which is in feline salivary, lacrimal and sebaceous glands. It’s the standard type cat allergy to being around them, not eating them.
They also tested : commercially available assays for IgE antibodies to dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus), cat, dog, grass pollen, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, codfish, cow's milk, and bromelain to investigate cross-reactivity.
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Lucky he doesn't have either a soy or gluten allergy then.
Half the people I currently work with have either one or both if they got what your brother has as a Covid side effect I'm not sure what they would do.
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It's not just red meat, it's also dairy. You get this, you're practically a vegan.
I wonder if the meat and dairy industries are getting nervous about this yet?
I wonder if the meat and dairy industries are getting nervous about this yet?
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Heathen eating cats notwithstanding, I'm glad at least chicken and fish are still a viable option. I can't imagine not being able to eat fish...
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Yes, we would all be physically better off if we ate perfectly balanced diets of nutrient slurry, but there's something to be said for enjoying our time on the planet, too.
Given the choice between living to 100 on a vegetarian diet and living to 70 with burgers and tacos? Just don't waste real estate burying my stupid taco-filled body, feed it to sharks or something.
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