The Ticks Making Hunters Allergic to Meat

Like most hunters who spend time in the spring woods, Jack Boyd never gave much thought to the ticks embedded in his skin at the end of the day. They were just part of the hunt. Boyd pulled them out, flushed them down the sink, and went about his day.

That changed in 2014. A college student at the time, Boyd threw a steak on the grill one evening as he studied for exams. A few hours later, he awoke to some of the most intense itching he had ever experienced.

“It started in my scalp,” he recalled. “Then it worked its way down my body. I got a rash all along my major veins and arteries, all the way down to my feet and hands. It felt like a severe sunburn under my skin. I finally fell asleep, and I was fine the next morning.”

When the same symptoms occurred a few weeks later, also after a steak dinner, Boyd became suspicious.

“A couple of guys at school had this allergy to red meat,” he said. “I never gave it much thought, but when I had a second reaction, I put two and two together and went to a doctor and got tested. I was always pulling ticks off me during turkey season, so I was pretty sure I had the same thing.”

Read the full article by David Hart on Petersen's Hunting here.