It’s called the “Lone Star tick.” But unlike the Lone Star State — Texas — it will not whet your appetite for barbecue.
Thanks to the tiny creature, a tide of involuntary vegetarianism is rolling up the Eastern seaboard, where it is the likely cause of thousands of cases of severe red meat allergies.
According to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the allergy can cause hives, breathing problems, a drop in blood pressure or even anaphylactic shock after eating red meat or dairy.
The problem has to do with a friendly-sounding sugar called “alpha-gal,” which ticks have but humans don’t. This same sugar is found in red meat, pork and some dairy products, and doesn’t usually bother people when they digest it. But when a tick bite injects it into the bloodstream, the human immune system creates antibodies activated next time the person eats red meat, causing the allergic reaction.