Tag: tick born

Woman in Pennsylvania diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome after tick bite

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Historic Lititz street with autumn trees, American flags, shops, church, library, and festival visitors

A Ross Township woman was diagnosed with a tick-borne disease that’s rare in southwestern Pennsylvania, but common in other parts of the country. Now, she wants to urge others to be more careful when outdoors.  Angela Lundy started feeling sick after she ate a bratwurst on Father’s Day. Then a week later, she split a burger with her husband. “I woke up with severe stomach pain like right along where my bra line is, and it lasted about three hours,” Lundy said.  However, her doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and testing for gallstones came back negative. “It wasn’t until my girlfriend half-jokingly said to me, ‘Well, maybe you have alpha-gal,'” Lundy said.

Everything started to click with Lundy, who remembered getting bitten by a tick behind her left knee in early June after working in her backyard garden. “It was the itchiest bite I had ever had,” Lundy said. She learned a tick infected her with alpha-gal syndrome after her doctor properly diagnosed her based on Lundy having both symptoms and positive blood test results. It’s a tick-borne disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said is potentially life-threatening and causes an allergy to mammal meats like beef, pork, venison, and could also cause intolerances to dairy and gelatin. “It’s mostly known to come from the lone star tick,” said Emily Struckhoff, program specialist with Penn State Extension.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health told KDKA that surveillance by the state Department of Environmental Protection now shows lone star ticks with white dots in several parts of the state, including southwestern counties, at low levels. However, the department added that “there is evidence that deer ticks … are also linked to [the syndrome].” “[Lone star ticks are] primarily a southern-associated species, but we have been seeing its range expand further north into southern Pa.,” Struckhoff said. The health department also said, “Recent voluntary reports show that about 300 people test positive for Alpha-Gal each year” in the state.

Now that includes Lundy, who just saw an allergist and is carrying an EpiPen, while taking extra precautions at restaurants and outside. “It’s not fun, but I think there’s like worse things,” Lundy said. This serves as a reminder that ticks are around year-round. Experts said the best steps you can take are wearing long sleeves and pants that you can tuck into your socks, and don’t forget to spray DEET or wash your clothes in permethrin, both of which can repel ticks.

Source: Woman in Pennsylvania diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome after tick bite – CBS Pittsburgh

For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
Acts 17:28

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Dangerous tick-borne virus spreading to more Americans, experts warn

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close up of tick

A rare and potentially fatal tick-borne illness currently spreading across the United States can be traced back to a 1958 case involving a young boy on a farm. The disease, known as Powassan virus, was named for the Ontario town near where it was first discovered. At the time of his death, Lincoln Byers, a 4-year-old living in Canada, had a condition that medical professionals could not explain, the Boston Globe reported. Years later, researchers discovered a tick harboring the same virus on a dead squirrel, finally providing an answer to the tragedy, but foreshadowing a growing public health challenge. While once considered an obscure medical anomaly, Powassan virus cases have reached historic highs in the U.S., data show.

Powassan is most prevalent from late spring through mid-fall, when tick populations peak and outdoor activity increases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 Americans were diagnosed with the virus in 2025, the highest annual total on record. Previously, the U.S. averaged just seven to eight diagnoses each year. The virus is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected woodchuck tick or deer tick. Like other tick-borne illnesses, Powassan is most prevalent from late spring through mid-fall, when tick populations peak and outdoor activity increases. Public health experts warn that the virus’s transmission speed makes it uniquely dangerous.

TICK BITE ER VISITS HIT HIGHEST SEASONAL LEVEL IN YEARS AS DOCTORS WARN OF DISEASE SURGE “One of the most dangerous aspects is its rapid transmission,” Dr. Jorge P. Parada, a medical advisor at the National Pest Management Association in Chicago, told Fox News Digital. “Powassan can be transmitted in as little as 15 minutes after the infected tick bites, while Lyme disease usually requires a 36- to 48-hour attachment time for transmission.”

Source: Dangerous tick-borne virus spreading to more Americans, experts warn | Fox News

“Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:24

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Lyme disease cases in Michigan rise 168% over 5 years, health officials report

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a tick on a person s skin

Lyme disease cases have increased by 168% in the past five years, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Annette Jackson of Hazel Park said she spent years searching for answers about her health. Jackson described repeated hospital visits where doctors could not identify the cause of her symptoms. “I went to the hospital, and the hospital was like, ‘Well, this is not a cold and this is not the flu. We don’t know what you have, but you have something. Your white blood cells are off the charts.’

And they said, ‘There’s nothing we could do for you,’ and they sent me home,” Jackson said. Jackson said she first noticed a bite after playing at the park with her family, but doctors were unable to diagnose her condition at the time. “Life was just debilitating after that, trying to find someone to help me,” she said. After years of symptoms, Jackson said her doctor eventually diagnosed her with Lyme disease. “Honestly, Lyme disease mimics a lot of diseases, a lot of symptoms. So it’s very hard for doctors to pinpoint,” Jackson said. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports that tick populations are increasing. CBS News Detroit learned that warmer spring months allow ticks more time to mature and bite. State data shows that in 2020, there were 471 new cases of Lyme disease. By 2025, that number had risen to 2,167.

Source: Lyme disease cases in Michigan rise 168% over 5 years, health officials report – CBS Detroit

By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life.
Proverbs 22:4

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