These SC ticks can make you allergic to red meat. Here’s how to spot and avoid them
South Carolina meat lovers may want to do all they can to prevent bites from the lone star tick.
It’s tick season in South Carolina until the end of September and while all these blood-sucking insects can potentially transmit different diseases, the lone star is known for causing alpha-gal syndrome — a type of food allergy to red meat.
According to Clemson University Public Service and Agriculture, the lone star tick is the most collected species in South Carolina. They will feed on humans and other animals.
Alpha-gal syndrome
The Mayo Clinic states that a lone star tick bite can transmit a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into a person’s body. In some people, this can trigger “an immune system reaction that later produces mild to severe allergic reactions to red meat, such beef, pork, lamb or other mammal products.”
Researchers now believe that some people who test negative for other food allergies, but have frequent, unexplained anaphylactic reactions, might be affected by alpha-gal syndrome.
Symptoms
Alpha-gal allergic reactions are usually delayed compared to other food allergies. While reactions to peanut or shellfish allergies can happen in minutes, alpha-gal syndrome reactions usually take 3 to 6 hours.
Signs and symptoms may include:
- Hives, itching, or itchy, scaly skin (eczema)
- Swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat, or other body parts
- Wheezing or shortness of breath
- A runny nose
- Stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting
- Sneezing
- Headaches
- A severe, potentially deadly allergic reaction that restricts breathing (anaphylaxis)
Seek emergency medical treatment if you develop signs or symptoms of anaphylaxis, such as:
- Difficulty breathing
- Rapid, weak pulse
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Drooling and inability to swallow
- Full-body redness and warmth (flushing)
Lone star tick
The lone star tick can grow to about 0.4 inches in size, have flat bodies and eight legs. They are solid brown, though females also have a white, star-like dot on the middle of their backs.
Lone star ticks prefer living in wooded environments and can be found anywhere that animals rest or feed. Often, the bite of a lone star tick will go undetected.
Tick prevention and treatment
- Avoiding tick bites is the key to prevention. Protect against tick bites by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts
- Use insect repellents when you’re in wooded, grassy areas
- Do a thorough, full-body tick check after spending time outside
- If you find a lone star tick on your body, remove it using tweezers. Pluck it from your body as close to the tick’s mouth parts as possible. Do not crush or squeeze the tick’s body, otherwise whatever pathogens it is harboring may be injected into the wound
- Companion animal and livestock owners are encouraged to work with their veterinarian to determine an appropriate tick prevention and treatment program for their animals
- Pasture and lawn control measures—such as maintaining low grass height, controlling weeds and other brushy areas, and removing woody debris from pasture and lawn edges—can reduce tick-bite risk. Maintaining a 9-foot distance between pasture or lawn and wooded edge habitat can reduce the risk of tick contact
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
