Unusually aggressive lone star ticks, common in the south-east, are spreading to areas previously too cold for them
I see the vegans are escalating their tactics.
The condition, known as alpha-gal syndrome, has proliferated from just a few dozen known cases in 2009 to as many as 450,000 now.
Alpha-gal (galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose) is a sugar molecule found in the cells of all mammals except humans and some primatesWell, at least we can still eat each other, it seems. The rich be lookin’ mighty tasty as of late…
If it were up to me, eating the rich would be considered vegan
Well, they have no soul, no emotion, are not human, and seem to feel no pain.
Dig in.
Forget the alpha male; this is the year of alpha-gal.
We’ll convert the bloodmouths, one way or another! The next plan is mosquitoes that make you allergic to cheese.
Jokes aside does it impact the love of dairy and eggs too?
Dairy, but not eggs. Sufferers can still eat chicken and fish.
And humans and some other primates.
Thank god. I just discovered the magic that is pickled eggs and I refuse to give them up.
Well, the upside is less meat consumption is good for the environment I guess.
Funny, humanity contributing to the reduction of the climate crisis by increasing the number of ticks causing people to become allergic to meat, meaning less demand for meat, meaning less greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere as cattle becomes less profitable.
Life, uh, finds a way.
The syndrome is not caused by a pathogen but spurs an allergy to a sugar molecule found in mammals and an array of other things, from toothpaste to medical equipment.
Lone star ticks are aggressive and can speedily follow a human target if they detect them. “They will hunt you, they are like a cross between a lentil and a velociraptor,” said Sharon Pitcairn Forsyth, a conservationist who lives in the Washington DC area.
A particular horror is the prospect of brushing up against vegetation containing a massed ball of juvenile lone star ticks, know as a “tick bomb”, that can deliver thousands of tick bites. “They are so tiny you can’t see them but you have to take it seriously or you’ll never get them off you,” said Forsyth, who now carries around a lint roller to remove such clusters.
Many years ago my dog brought in a tic bomb, and got into bed with me. I awoke to my left arm and hand covered in so many sesema seed sized tics I could not even see my skin.
It took hours to get them off me and my dog.
I dodged a bullet cause I didn’t get any illnesses, nor did my dog.
I’m still freaked out though.
Straight nightmare fuel, Jesus Christ mate…
This happened to me once (with deer ticks, not lone star) while I was having a nice walk in the woods high on shrooms. Worst trip of my life.
Why did I read this in bed
I wonder if the tick bomb babies are less likely to transmit anything because they probably haven’t fed on anything yet? I would think they’d have to feed on a mammal to get the compound into their saliva.
😱 😱 😱 !
thats fucking terrifying. imma stay inside
“to areas previously too cold”, huh… i wonder what happened…
The planet keeps {Chinese hoax}'ing.
Don’t worry. The meat industry will find a cure fast
No crap. Republicans will be requiring vaccinations
One time I saw a lone star tick crawl into the headphone jack of my phone.
I tried everything I could think of to get it out, to no avail. Then I googled two things:
-
What eats ticks?
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Guinea hen mating sounds
After fifteen seconds of guinea hen sounds, I watched the tick crawl out of my phone… and immediately disappear.
Oh buddy, you should have killed it. ☹️ Stomped it out. Not only is there the meat allergy thing, but idk, they can probably still carry Lyme Disease & that’s a real bitch.
Do you have experience with ticks? You can’t stomp them. They’re too small and flat with hard shells and don’t squish. They have to be cut in half, burned, or drowned. Some people can kill them with their fingernails, but mine are too short.
I found two of them on my body later that night and killed them with tweezers. Or fire, I don’t remember which.
Also, deer ticks carry Lyme disease, not lone star ticks.
I assume they would have, if it didn’t immediately disappear
The tick is now living outside of the environment.
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I know in Arkansas a ton of people have been getting this. I knew a guy that lost nearly 100 pounds after getting it. His diet really changes.
Its all natural Ozempic!
Removed by mod
it can be treated with great success using Chinese medicine.
lol
What’s the treatment?
Several practitioners are having a lot of success testing it as an allergy, which it is. Mods deleted my commment but look it up, I have a family member who practices Chinese medicine and acupuncture in the US and treats people will alpha gal all the time.
My cousin got acupuncture treatments for alpha gal a couple of months ago. She went out for a steak after her last session and wound up in the hospital.
Im sorry to hear that, it’s not a one and done thing, it requires several treatments and a strict avoidance of mammal protein during the treatment. You have to east back into it slowly.
Those naughty mods.
Every time I go hiking with my dog I pull one of these little bastards off his fur. I cover him in permethrin, as well as every inch of my clothing, shoes and hat, so I’m not SUPER stressed about it, but it’s still annoying. A couple days ago I found one in his tail floof (he’s a golden so it’s a giant poof.) The tick was near dead already by the time I got it untangled from his fur thanks to the permethrin though. Usually I spot the ticks on him either because they’re on his head (where they’re easy to spot immediately), or because they got tangled in his fur and couldn’t jump off. I’ve never once seen one bite him thankfully.
It’s wild to me because I have only seen other kinds of ticks twice so far this season, but otherwise it’s all lone star ticks, which are not supposed to be the most common where I am. They’re definitely more prominent this year though. Of all the tick diseases, alpha-gal terrifies me the most, so I’m not thrilled by this increase in lone stars.
Gaia hits back.
Nature will always win.
Yep, don’t fuck with nature.
The syndrome is not caused by a pathogen but spurs an allergy to a sugar molecule found in mammals and an array of other things, from toothpaste to medical equipment.
Lone star ticks are aggressive and can speedily follow a human target if they detect them. “They will hunt you, they are like a cross between a lentil and a velociraptor,” said Sharon Pitcairn Forsyth, a conservationist who lives in the Washington DC area.
A particular horror is the prospect of brushing up against vegetation containing a massed ball of juvenile lone star ticks, know as a “tick bomb”, that can deliver thousands of tick bites. “They are so tiny you can’t see them but you have to take it seriously or you’ll never get them off you,” said Forsyth, who now carries around a lint roller to remove such clusters.
😱
The cows are delighted.
And the vegans
And my Ox.
And so their task force begins…
Unusually Aggressive Lone Star Tick was my user name in the 2000s!
