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Just across Buzzards Bay, a bug the size of a pencil eraser is wreaking havoc. The lone star tick, once limited to the southern U.S., has crept steadily northward as the climate warms. The tick spreads what’s known as alpha-gal syndrome — a virulent allergy to red meat and dairy.
Lone star ticks, named for the white dot that appears on the backs of adult females, have recently been found in Bristol County and have already overrun Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Their reign of terror on the Islands has reshaped residents’ relationships to restaurant menus and the outdoors.
Although New England residents have long dealt with Lyme disease, tularemia, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, the rise of alpha-gal has added a new layer of fear and paranoia that can’t be easily swept away with antibiotics.
Deer ticks and dog ticks largely spread disease through the blood of their hosts. Unlike them, lone star ticks spread the red meat and dairy allergy known as alpha-gal syndrome through a carbohydrate in their saliva.
Some people with alpha-gal may become allergic to beef, pork, and dairy (though they can still eat chicken and fish). The allergy can cause anaphylaxis, including tight, narrow airways and a swelling of the throat that makes it hard to breathe, according to the Mayo Clinic. Other symptoms can include hives, itching, and stomach pain. If contracted, the allergy can be long-lasting, though some people can return to eating meat after a year or more.
Alpha-gal has grown exponentially on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and epidemiologists are urging caution even on the mainland. For one, lone star ticks can spread alpha-gal even in their juvenile stage.
A particularly unsightly way one can contract alpha-gal is through a “tick bomb” — a cloud of juvenile tick larvae that explodes onto an unprotected hiker.
According to Centers for Disease Control data, instances of tickborne diseases nearly doubled between 2004 and 2017, and they’ve continued to climb over the last decade. Tickborne disease rates in Bristol County have climbed slowly over the past five years but still remain below those of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties.
Ticking your boxes
Fortunately, there are relatively easy ways to prevent tick bites while outdoors. Wearing long socks tucked over pants can prevent ticks from clinging to skin or leg hair. Adding a spray of permethrin, an insecticide derived from chrysanthemum flowers, will poison any ticks or other insects that come into contact with it.
The easiest way to prevent a tickborne illness is to do “tick checks” every day after going outdoors, said Blake Dinius, an entomologist with the Plymouth County Extension program. That means undressing in front of a mirror and inspecting every nook and cranny, but after some practice it can take as little as 10 seconds.
If you spot a tick, Dartmouth Director of Public Health Christopher Michaud has advice for removing it.
Conventional wisdom once advised burning off a tick, to kill the insect while trying to cauterize the bite. But Michaud says that any approach that destroys the tick instead of leaving it whole can just cause more damage.
Instead, he recommends removing the tick with a spoon-shaped tick remover, a tool the Dartmouth Board of Health gives out for free at various pop-up events. The specialized tool helps preserve the tick so it can be lab-tested for diseases.
After that point, anyone bitten by a tick should monitor their symptoms and seek medical help at the first sign of something that seems off, Michaud said.
“And if you’re on doxycycline, please finish your entire course of antibiotics,” Michaud added. “If you experience discomfort, nausea, call your doctor, but please take all your antibiotics.”
New Bedford residents can receive a tick removal kit at 1213 Purchase St. or at one of the Health Department’s outreach events throughout the summer, city public information officer Jonathan Darling said in an email. Each kit contains bandages, alcohol, tweezers, a card for identifying types of ticks, a plastic bag, and a magnifying glass.
On the hunt
There’s another way to fight the spread of ticks on the South Coast: eat more venison.
High deer populations are closely linked to the spread of tickborne illnesses, which is why the state has made it easier to hunt deer over the past five years.
“If you reduce deer densities, you won’t have a direct reduction of ticks,” MassWildlife deer and moose biologist Martin Feehan said in a phone call. “But if you reduce deer, other tick management strategies become more effective.”
Southeastern Massachusetts has the second highest concentration of deer in the state behind Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, at 30 to 50 deer per square mile. According to state recommendations, a healthy ecosystem should have just 12 deer per square mile.
In 2022, MassWildlife launched the Hunter to Harvest program, which allows hunters to donate extra venison to local food hubs. This past year, Bristol County led the state with 55 donations, Feehan said.
Last winter, the state introduced an extended deer hunting season in January and February on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The change led to a 20% spike in deer harvests on the Islands, with hunters raking in 330 deer in just one month.
In 2027, South Coast residents will be able to hunt deer through February, too. Feehan hopes that these changes, along with pending regulations that would allow for easier crossbow hunting, will continue to drive up deer harvests as alpha-gal cases soar. Last year, the state broke a new harvest record with a total of 16,681 deer.
“Certainly the conditions were right for a high harvest this year, but also a lot of those management actions are really starting to take hold,” Feehan said.
But New Englanders will have to remain vigilant, performing meticulous tick checks.
“Ticks are here to stay,” Michaud said. “It’s just about being aware of risk.”
Email Brooke Kushwaha at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.
Interesting story but it begs a question: any information on where/when/how this tick was found in Bristol County?