lone star ticks: alpha-gal anaphylaxis from eating red meat
The spread of the lone star tick as a result of climate change/warmer weather has led to the northward spread of some tick-borne illnesses. A prior blog highlighted the spread of the potentially fatal Heartland virus, associated with the lone star tick ( http://gmodestmedblogs.blogspot.com/2023/03/climate-change-tick-disease-spreads.html ); this blog includes a picture of the tick as well as more general observations of the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases. And, now the alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) Details : -- the lone star tick bites have been associated with the alpha-gal syndrome, AGS (also called the red meat allergy or tick bite meat allergy), a potentially life-threatening allergic condition -- it seems that AGS is primarily associated with lone star tick bites, though other ticks may also be involved (one suspect is Ixodes spp: the culprit also in anaplasmosis, Lyme disease, babesiosis, Borrelia miyamoto...