WEBVTT BITE LED TO THE WOMAN DEVELOPING AN ALLERGY TO MEET. — MEAT. JOE: HAVING SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS CURATING HER GARDENS, PATTY IS WELL AWARE OF WHAT CAN LURK BONITA LEAVES. >> I AM LOOKING TO FIND YOU A TICK. SHOW: SHE WAS BITTEN BY A TICK LAST FALL BUT NEVER ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT CAME. AND ANAPHYLACTIC EXPERIENCE IS THE MOST FRIGHTENING THING. JOE: IT SENT HER TO THE HOSPITAL. SHE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG. >> EVERYTHING THEY ASKED ABOUT I WAS NOT ALLERGIC TO. PEANUTS, FISH. WE CANNOT DETERMINE WHAT THIS WAS. JOE: MONTHS AFTER THAT, SOMETHING FINALLY CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE DOCTORS. IT FOUND THE CULPRIT. >> YOU ARE BITTEN BY A LONG START TAKE. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF A LOAN START TAKE. BECAUSE OF THAT YOU CAN NEVER AGAIN EAT MAMMAL. JOE: HOURS INTO COOKING A JUICY POT ROAST, SHE WAS TOLD SHE WAS EFFECTIVELY A VEGETARIAN. >> I CANNOT EAT THE DINNER I WAS PREPARING BECAUSE IT WAS NO MORE MAMMALS. IT WAS PRETTY STARTLING. JOE: WHEN A LOAN START TO BITE IT INJECTS A CARBOHYDRATE FOUND NATURALLY IN MAMMALS BUT NOT HUMA. THAT CAUSES A VICTIM SYSTEM TO REACT WITH ANY MEAT. >> THERE ARE THESE LITTLE TINY WHITE DOTS ON THE BACK. JOE: NOW SHE IS STUDYING UP ON THE TICK. >> WE ARE TRYING TO ESTABLISH WHETHER THEY HAVE SET UP BREEDING POPULATIONS HERE. JOE: SHE HAS BEEN IN TOUCH WITH YOU MAINE’S LAVIN ORONO, WHICH IS ONLY HEARD OF A COUPLE OF CASES. IF IT IS TRULY THESE ISOLATED INCIDENTS WHERE THEY ARE DROPPED OFF TO ROUTE THE STATE. JOE: SHE CANNOT BE SURE WHERE THAT TICK BIT HER, BUT EVEN THOUGH IT ACTS QUICKLY IT CAN TAKE MONTHS TO TAKE EFFECT. >> OTHER PEOPLE MAY HAVE BEEN BITTEN BY THE LOG STAR BUT DO NOT EXPERIENCE THE REACTION THAT I DO. FOR THOSE WHOSE REACTIONS ARE SEVERE THEY DON’T MIRROR FOOD ALLERGIES LIKE PEANUTS. THEY CAN COME HOURS AFTER THE MEAT IS INGESTED. >> YOU DON’T ASSOCIATE THAT YOU WENT TO THE NEIGHBORS BARBECUE AND HAD PULLED PORK AT 5:00 AND YOU ARE SICK AT 11:00. MY DIET HAS CHANGED AND MIGHT DARLING HUSBAND IS KEEPING UP WITH ME. JOH: SHE WILL HAVE HER BLOOD TESTED IN A YEAR. IT CAN FORM ANTIBODIES AGAINST THE REACTION. SOMETIMES THE CONDITION IS PERMANENT. FOR NOW, IN ADDITION TO CARRYING HER EPI-PENS WITH HER EVERYWHERE, SHE IS MAKING SURE SHE IS PROTECT IT. >> — PROTECTED. I SPRAY MY GARDENING” THEM, TURN THEM OVER AND SPRAY THEM AGAIN. I’M HOPING THE MORE WE CAN GET
‘Bracing for the worst’: Aggressive lone star tick expanding into Maine, New England
Maine has seen an unprecedented rise in ticks and tick-borne illness, according to state and federal health officials, and a new report indicates it is only getting worse.Two tick species, the blacklegged tick and lone star tick, “may be recolonizing areas where they thrived historically,” a report in the New England Journal of Medicine said.The report links a warming climate and deforestation to a increase in ticks and tick-borne diseases.”The resurgence of lone star ticks is linked to increased populations of deer, eastern coyotes, and wild turkeys,” the report said. “In addition to occupying its established range, the lone star tick has expanded into the upper midwestern and northeastern United States and eastern Canada.”Last year, a bite from a lone star tick in Harpwsell landed a woman in the hospital.She went into anaphylactic shock and later learned, because of the tick bite, she was allergic to meat.When the lone star tick bites, it injects a carbohydrate called alpha-gal, something found in most mammals, but not in humans. Researchers say that’s what reacts within the victim’s system when meat from mammals is ingested.Unlike many food allergies, such as a peanut allergy, the anaphylactic reaction doesn’t come until hours later.Earlier this fall, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned of high levels of two tick-borne illnesses.Officials said Friday that the state had recorded 556 cases of anaplasmosis and 124 cases of babesiosis through Oct. 1.They say those levels already represent an all-time annual high for babesiosis, a bacterium. Maine is also on track to surpass the record high of 663 cases of anaplasmosis, a parasite, in 2017.”As the geographic ranges of multiple tick species continue to expand, invasive tick species are being discovered, new tickborne pathogens are emerging, and coinfections in ticks are surging,” the report said. “Rising global temperatures, ecologic changes, reforestation, and increases in commerce and travel are all important underlying factors influencing the rate and extent of range expansion for ticks and tickborne pathogens.”Extreme cold temperatures won’t necessarily kill ticks but can delay their appearance in large numbers.The presence of ticks means more disease in pets and humans. Deer ticks are responsible for Lyme disease, but ticks carry other diseases as well.
PORTLAND, Maine —Maine has seen an unprecedented rise in ticks and tick-borne illness, according to state and federal health officials, and a new report indicates it is only getting worse.Two tick species, the blacklegged tick and lone star tick, “may be recolonizing areas where they thrived historically,” a report in the New England Journal of Medicine said.
The report links a warming climate and deforestation to a increase in ticks and tick-borne diseases.”The resurgence of lone star ticks is linked to increased populations of deer, eastern coyotes, and wild turkeys,” the report said. “In addition to occupying its established range, the lone star tick has expanded into the upper midwestern and northeastern United States and eastern Canada.”Last year, a bite from a lone star tick in Harpwsell landed a woman in the hospital.She went into anaphylactic shock and later learned, because of the tick bite, she was allergic to meat.When the lone star tick bites, it injects a carbohydrate called alpha-gal, something found in most mammals, but not in humans. Researchers say that’s what reacts within the victim’s system when meat from mammals is ingested.
Unlike many food allergies, such as a peanut allergy, the anaphylactic reaction doesn’t come until hours later.Earlier this fall, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned of high levels of two tick-borne illnesses.Officials said Friday that the state had recorded 556 cases of anaplasmosis and 124 cases of babesiosis through Oct. 1.
They say those levels already represent an all-time annual high for babesiosis, a bacterium. Maine is also on track to surpass the record high of 663 cases of anaplasmosis, a parasite, in 2017.”As the geographic ranges of multiple tick species continue to expand, invasive tick species are being discovered, new tickborne pathogens are emerging, and coinfections in ticks are surging,” the report said. “Rising global temperatures, ecologic changes, reforestation, and increases in commerce and travel are all important underlying factors influencing the rate and extent of range expansion for ticks and tickborne pathogens.”Extreme cold temperatures won’t necessarily kill ticks but can delay their appearance in large numbers.The presence of ticks means more disease in pets and humans. Deer ticks are responsible for Lyme disease, but ticks carry other diseases as well.
