Just When I Thought It Was Safe To Go Into The Woods,

I find out that one bite from this little critter, 

can turn you into a vegetarian for life, it is the the tiny Lone Star tick which can succeed where countless health experts and diet planners have failed – this bug has the power to put people off red meat! the tick isn’t vegetarian itself, but it sure can turn you into one for life, scientifically known as Amblyomma americanum, these ticks carry a variety of diseases, but what makes them truly fascinating is their ability to make people allergic to meat, that’s because they carry a substance called alpha-gal (Galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose), which is a type of carbohydrate found in non-primate mammals, now, alpha-gal isn’t present in the human body, but our guts can digest it without negative effects under normal conditions, so when we eat meat that contains alpha-gal, we’re able to handle it without any problems, but when the stuff enters the bloodstream through the Lone Star’s bite, it’s a totally different ballgame – the human immune system recognises it as a foreign substance and produces antibodies to protect against it, these antibodies remain in the system, so the next time meat containing alpha-gal is ingested, it can trigger violent allergic reactions, 

so be careful if you go walking in the woods in the area the bug lives in, 

and if you see one like this full of blood on your skin, not only might you be off of red meat but as it can be a vector of diseases you could have also contracted some of these, human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia chaffeensis), canine and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia ewingii), tularemia (Francisella tularensis), and southern tick-associated rash illness (START) possibly caused by the spirochete Borrelia lonestari), STARI exhibits a rash similar to that caused by Lyme disease, but is generally considered to be less severe, a great case for staying at home, watching television and having a few beers!