If you're bitten by a Lone Star tick, did you know you now have a red meat allergy? That means no burgers, steaks, or any other red meat on the grill during the summer

Allergist and associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, tells NPR that these specific ticks cause a meat allergy and about 15 to 20 percent of patients with the alpha-gal allergy also report getting symptoms from dairy, especially high-fat dairy such as ice cream.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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In the U.S., the Lone Star tick has expanded its range beyond the Southeast, and there are documented cases of alpha gal meat allergies farther north — including New York, Maine and Minnesota."

According to that map, Central New York is part of the region of ticks that can cause this. So if you'd like to eat meat, and dairy, always bring bug spray in areas you know ticks are common.

Lone Star ticks are found mostly in woodlands with dense undergrowth and around animal resting areas. Adults are active April- late August and can be found questing for larger animals, such as dogs, coyotes, deer, cattle and humans on tall grass in shade or at the tips of low lying branches and twigs.

The larvae do not carry disease, but the nymphal and adult stages can transmit the pathogens causing Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and 'Stari' borreliosis. Lone Star ticks are notorious pests, and all stages are aggressive human biters."

Watch out this summer.

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