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“Alpha-gal syndrome is triggered when a tick bite causes a person’s immune system to develop an allergic reaction to meat, including beef, pork or lamb.”

    • forkDestroyer@infosec.pubEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      Iirc there is a good follow up episode on this as well from Radiolab.

      Wild that no one believed it at first. Short amount of time for this to change, eh?

      • Fedizen@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        I really liked the follow up. Yeah it was the alpha gal free pigs. They did a good job

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      it’s been very well known anywhere within a few states of texas for like a decade, and it’s definitely spreading. The US government needs to get it’s shit together and then wipe that tick off the face of the map the same way they were handling the screw worm flys and the mosquitoes that carry west nile and the other ones that carry dengu fever.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.worldEnglish
        711·
        3 days ago

        Imo I think these ticks are cooking and we should breed them and release them into high beef consumption districts.

        • forkDestroyer@infosec.pubEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          Put active effort into educating and making animal free food outcompete meat-based meals

          Become a bioterrorist that doesn’t pay mind to accidentally killing kids (and adults) who suddenly get a life ending allergic reaction when having a meal cooked or cross contaminated with any animal product

          “Which way, animal ally man?”

          • Fedizen@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 days ago

            Obviously I was being sarcastic. I don’t actually believe we should be spreading ticks around, they can transmit other diseases as well. You could also get the same effect by injecting people with alpha gal.

            But while we’re here lets have some fun:

            shitpost

        • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          Idk if they were just biting people maybe, but I can’t help but wonder what effect removing carnivores would have. Education would be better.

          • Fedizen@lemmy.worldEnglish
            11·
            2 days ago

            I think the main problem is that corporate agriculture has already sidestepped the problem by creating genetically modified animals that don’t have the alpha gal molecules.

            If I remember correctly alpha gal isn’t present in humans so our immune system can be programmed to use it as an immune target. Most mammals have the molecule present on cells so if their thymus is functioning correctly they shouldn’t be able to develop an immune response to it.