
The Tick That Gives People Meat Allergies Is Spreading - sohkamyung
https://www.wired.com/story/lone-star-tick-that-gives-people-meat-allergies-may-be-spreading
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jscheel
I personally know four people with this allergy. It's crazy how bad it can be.
They all have to carry epipens and constantly remain vigilant about the food
they eat. For one of them, it's not even the food they eat though. If they eat
from a grill or plate that just had red meat on it, they can still break out
in hives. She's been hospitalized several times from accidental exposure.

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novia
Here's the relevant radiolab episode: [http://www.radiolab.org/story/alpha-
gal/](http://www.radiolab.org/story/alpha-gal/)

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obstinate
Would make an interesting premise for an environmentalist terrorism novel.

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technofiend
Ticks along with mosquitoes are (IMHO) something we should be waging
biological war against to prevent the spread of disease. But then I'd probably
eat a shotgun if I could never have another steak or swiss and mushroom
burger. Of course some juicy sci-fi exploring the "Eh, what's the _worst_ that
could happen" theme sounds like a lot of fun.

My favorite plot in this theme was someone who released a virus that rewrote
and reduced your ability to understand abstract concepts, with the idea that
lawyers would never again be able to obfuscate evil intentions behind ornate
language. Absent was what the impact on software would be since (arguably)
software engineers are using the same skills to express abstract thought in
sometimes obscure ways.

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SpikeDad
Star Trek: DS9 episode 1x05 Babel. Terrorist device is triggered which causes
the replicated to insert a virus that has the effect of causing people to lose
their ability to speak - Aphasia.

Actually one of the more interesting episodes.

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technofiend
Good example but I was thinking of a book which I can no longer remember.

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perilunar
Also prevalent in Sydney's Northern beaches:

[http://www.sbs.com.au/news/thefeed/article/2016/09/14/epidem...](http://www.sbs.com.au/news/thefeed/article/2016/09/14/epidemic-
tick-induced-meat-allergy-sydneys-northern-beaches)

(edit: the allergy that is, not the tick, which is a different species)

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i_feel_great
"I certainly couldn't go to Bunnings on the weekend when there's a sausage
sizzle."

How awful. This is the only reason I go to Bunnings. Sometimes I buy a plant
or a few screws. But always a snag.

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cr0sh
Interesting - just researched it; here in the states Lowes or Home Depot will
sometimes have vendors selling hotdogs - which sounds similar to what you guys
call a "snag" (interesting term), but with a money-making, not fund-raising
involved...

Though a hotdog is technically a sausage, it's not the same as what we call a
sausage over here, which usually denotes a breakfast item made of pork (and
somewhat spicy), or is used in "italian" food (spaghetti and pizza being the
main ones), cut into slices (pizza) or crumbles (pizza, spaghetti).

For something similar to "sausage on a bun" \- it would be a bratwurst dog (or
"brats" as we say); this is a more coarse kind of "hot dog" sausage, with some
spicyness (but not the same as breakfast sausages); if they're done right,
they are first boiled in beer (any cheap brew will do - don't have to get
fancy here), then grilled; serve on a bun with whatever condiments you desire
(I generally prefer some simple yellow mustard and maybe some mayo, nothing
else).

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xbmcuser
Gia ie Earth fights human and protects the environment in its own way :D

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mirimir
Well, spread of the Lone Star tick may well be a consequence of global climate
change. And meat production does contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

But it's probably just coincidence ;)

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remline
There is an interesting theory that deer ticks and associated diseases are in
a symbiosis with deer by damaging predators and competing species that haven't
co-evolved.

This tick/disease would be at the maxima of such a natural selection, able to
achieve symbiosis perfectly with herbivores it hasn't co-evolved with. A
biased probability sort of coincidence. ;)

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mirimir
Co-evolved with herbivores to damage carnivores? Insidious!

There's probably a way to check for that.

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herbst
No cases outside of the US?

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perilunar
Plenty. See my comment above.

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SN76477
Ticks are freaking creepy AF. Stay safe folks.

