New Deer Tick disease

[redblood]

i received an email about this last this morning

 

[Doskil]

Yikes!

 

[in the dog house]

MSNBC....... Can stand them, not that this isnt something to be aware of but there news is ummmm biased

 

[BSK]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Also, don't forget the tick-caused "Mammalian Meat Allergy" (which I have had for going on 25 years, although the relationship to ticks was only recently discovered).

 

[WMAn]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Also, don't forget the tick-caused "Mammalian Meat Allergy" (which I have had for going on 25 years, although the relationship to ticks was only recently discovered).

What symptoms do you have? How have you dealt with it?

 

[TLRanger]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Also, don't forget the tick-caused "Mammalian Meat Allergy" (which I have had for going on 25 years, although the relationship to ticks was only recently discovered).

What symptoms do you have? How have you dealt with it?

It makes you allergic to red meat. I think the allergy symptoms usually last about 12 months. -hunter's worst nightmare.

It also makes you a terrible shot with a bow and arrow when shooting at a deer.

 

[BSK]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Also, don't forget the tick-caused "Mammalian Meat Allergy" (which I have had for going on 25 years, although the relationship to ticks was only recently discovered).

What symptoms do you have? How have you dealt with it?

Mammalian Meat Allergy is an allergy to various forms of red meat and is specifically characterized by the delayed allergic reaction, usually occurring 4-6 hours after ingesting the meat. With each successive reaction, the symptoms usually become more severe.

I dealt with it by avoiding beef for 20 years. And strangely, my symptoms are now virtually gone. I eat beef with regularity, although on very rare occassions I still get mild symptoms (itchy hives). But when I first acquired the allergy, my symptoms were quite severe, including swelling of the airways and difficulty breathing. Interestingly, two of my sisters have aquired the allergy in the last year, both with fairly severe symptoms. Unfortunately, discovery of the condition has been fairly recent, and not much is known about it, other than that it is most prevalent geographically in an east-west stripe of geography running from Virginia and North Carolina, through Tennessee and into Arkansas, a region where one particular species of tick is most common.

 

[BSK]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Also, don't forget the tick-caused "Mammalian Meat Allergy" (which I have had for going on 25 years, although the relationship to ticks was only recently discovered).

What symptoms do you have? How have you dealt with it?

It makes you allergic to red meat. I think the allergy symptoms usually last about 12 months. -hunter's worst nightmare.

It also makes you a terrible shot with a bow and arrow when shooting at a deer.

If only I could blame that on ticks!

 

[WMAn]

Odd question, but did you try beef from different sources? Supermarket versus grass fed from a local farm? Did the source not matter? Just curious.

 

[Andy S.]

and, to clarify, it was just beef? Pork etc had no effect?

Was wondering the same thing. What about venison?

 

[BSK]

Odd question, but did you try beef from different sources? Supermarket versus grass fed from a local farm? Did the source not matter? Just curious.

Yup, tried everything, including free-range. For years we were convinced the problem was being caused by preservatives sprayed on the carcasses at the slaughter house--that is until Mammalian Meat Allergy was discovered.

 

[BSK]

Odd question, but did you try beef from different sources? Supermarket versus grass fed from a local farm? Did the source not matter? Just curious.

and, to clarify, it was just beef? Pork etc had no effect?

Each person will show a slightly different list of meats that bother them. For me it was beef and some forms of cured pork, such as cured ham, brauts, and some sausage. But I could eat porkchops and bar-b-que. Venison was also OK.

For one of my sisters it is purely beef. For the other, every type of red meat is causing her problems, including venison.

But the defining aspect of Mammalian Meat Allergy isn't what meat the person displays allergic reactions to. It is the 4-6 hour delayed reaction, which as far as I know, is fairly unprecedented in food allergies. Most other food allergies will begin to display symptoms within 30-60 minutes of consumption.

For me, the delay was exactly 6 hours. You could set your wath by it the reaction time was so precise.

So far, there are only about 1,200 diagnosed cases of Mammalian Meat Allergy, but much of that is due to a lack of awareness by people who might have it. Of those diagnosed, I'm one of the earliest cases known (my symptoms appeared in 1991).

 

[Oak]

I've also dealt with this for several years. My worst reactions usually occur if I eat the cheaper high fat content beef (I.e. the cheap frozen hamburger patties are the worst). I am able to eat leaner cuts of beef and venison has never bothered me. It took a while for me to narrow it down to beef. As BSK stated I always assumed it was preservatives. I've had some serious reactions in the past, including trouble breathing, a serious colon pain, burning/itchy hives. Benedryl (or any other antihistamine) has been the only thing that can relieve the symptoms.

 

[BSK]

I've also dealt with this for several years. My worst reactions usually occur if I eat the cheaper high fat content beef (I.e. the cheap frozen hamburger patties are the worst).

Yup. I first noticed the reactions, and the reactions were always worst, to high-fat fast-food hamburgers.

I've had some serious reactions in the past, including trouble breathing, a serious colon pain, burning/itchy hives.

On the rare occassion I have a reaction these days, it is always the intense intestinal pain. It comes in waves, and is shockingly brutal. One of my sisters also experiences this symptom.

 

[pass-thru]

Odd question, but did you try beef from different sources? Supermarket versus grass fed from a local farm? Did the source not matter? Just curious.

and, to clarify, it was just beef? Pork etc had no effect?

Each person will show a slightly different list of meats that bother them. For me it was beef and some forms of cured pork, such as cured ham, brauts, and some sausage. But I could eat porkchops and bar-b-que. Venison was also OK.

For one of my sisters it is purely beef. For the other, every type of red meat is causing her problems, including venison.

But the defining aspect of Mammalian Meat Allergy isn't what meat the person displays allergic reactions to. It is the 4-6 hour delayed reaction, which as far as I know, is fairly unprecedented in food allergies. Most other food allergies will begin to display symptoms within 30-60 minutes of consumption.

For me, the delay was exactly 6 hours. You could set your wath by it the reaction time was so precise.

So far, there are only about 1,200 diagnosed cases of Mammalian Meat Allergy, but much of that is due to a lack of awareness by people who might have it. Of those diagnosed, I'm one of the earliest cases known (my symptoms appeared in 1991).

My mother has it several years now, and she can't eat any read meat whatsoever. I had never heard of it before and neither and she. She was diagnosed by an allergist through bloodwork.

 

[BSK]

My mother has it several years now, and she can't eat any read meat whatsoever. I had never heard of it before and neither and she. She was diagnosed by an allergist through bloodwork.

They look for the alfagal proteins.

It's beginning to appear that there are other ways to develop this allergy other than a tick bite (as the allergy is starting to show up in a few people outside of the normal range), but tick bites (from a particular species of tick) appear to be the primary cause.

 

[BSK]

Here's a link for anyone that wants to know more about Mammalian Meat Allergy or the tests used to diagnose it.

http://allergytomeat.wordpress.com/freq ... questions/

 

[pass-thru]

My mother has it several years now, and she can't eat any read meat whatsoever. I had never heard of it before and neither and she. She was diagnosed by an allergist through bloodwork.

They look for the alfagal proteins.

It's beginning to appear that there are other ways to develop this allergy other than a tick bite (as the allergy is starting to show up in a few people outside of the normal range), but tick bites (from a particular species of tick) appear to be the primary cause.

She got through a tick bite, I'm sure.

 

[Setterman]

Add me to this list and I just recently was able to uncover what was causing the things you all speak of above.

It hit me suddenly on memorial day in 2004 after eating hamburgers. It started as hives, morphed into swelling of lips and airway and eventually caused me to black out and faint. I was with a bunch of doctors at the time who stabilized me with over the counter meds. Not knowing what the heck happened I forced it on myself several more times before figuring out it was the beef and pork causing it.

I can eat all manner of birds, and most meals I eat chicken to stay safe.

It really really sucks, being from the deep south I love BBQ and I had to give up pork due to this weirdness.

I would advise everyone to use the tick sprays available now and I pray no one else contracts this junk.

 

[BSK]

Although not a lot of research exists on this new disease Setterman, don't give up hope. I avoided beef for 20 years and it appears that the allergy has faded almost completely away. I now eat beef with regularity, and I've only had a couple of reactions, and they were minor (slight hives).