YORK COUNTY — It’s tick season, and a tick known to cause a “meat allergy” in humans may be moving north, according to biologists in the state.
 
The Lone Star tick, so named for the white dot or “lone star” that graces the adult female’s back, is known to cause an allergy called alpha-gal. A bite from the tick can produce antibodies that target specific carbohydrates present in mammalian meat.
 
When a person with alpha-gal ingests meat such as beef, pork or lamb, the body can release histamine and experience hives, itching or anaphylaxis — which can be fatal for some —  as a result, according to advocacy group Alpha-Gal allergy awareness.
 
The reaction, however, is delayed, and some people may not be aware they’re allergic until they develop symptoms long after they’ve eaten.
 
Charles Lubelczyk, a biologist with the Lyme & Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory in Scarborough, said Friday the tick — which is not native to Maine but has been found on people traveling back from southern regions of the U.S. — may be on the move due to climate change.
 
“Unlike deer ticks ,which do well inc cooler latitudes — up in Canada, etc. — Lone Star ticks tend to be very much in warm weather, almost tropical but not quite,” he said. “There’s a northerly increase of it incrementally moving itself further and further north. … A lot of it probably is climate.”
 
A report by New Hampshire news outlet NH1 published in June claimed cases of the allergy have been reported in the town of Hanover, suggesting the tick could be on the move from its typical range.
 
New Hampshire public health officials, however, have denied that information.
 
“We certainly read those articles with interest because all the entomologists in the state we work with have not been able to validate those articles,” Beth Daly, chief of New Hampshire’s Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, said Friday. “Our message to New Hampshire residents is they’re not at risk for diseases associated with the Lone Star tick unless they travel.”

Lubelczyk said, it’s more likely for people to develop the allergy, no matter where they live, if they’ve traveled to regions more typically associated with the Lone Star tick. Those include the southwestern and southeastern, midwestern and eastern parts of the country — but rarely New England.
 
“A lot of people come back from vacation, maybe in Virginia, and they find a Lone Star tick on them, but because they find it when they get back home, it’s tentatively reported as being from New Hampshire even though they have a travel history,” he said, adding that the tick has been found living as far north as southern Massachusetts.
 
“Right now, the reliable science is that the Lone Star (tick) is probably established in southern Massachusetts at this point,” he said.
 
While the red-meat lovers may have reason to fear, the good news is those with Alpha-Gal aren’t affected by poultry or seafood.
 
Also good, Lubelczyk said, is that the tick does not transmit Lyme Disease. But outdoor enthusiasts still need to worry about a host of other infectious diseases the tick is capable of passing along. 
 
Those include human and canine ehrlichiosis, which causes flu-like symptoms, and southern tick-associated rash illness, or STARI, which can cause symptoms of rash, fatigue, headache, fever, and muscle pains similar to Lyme.
 
So how can you protect yourself from the Lone Star tick’s bite? Use the same protection you would as from deer ticks.
 
The federal Centers for Disease Control recommends people first know where to expect ticks. Many ticks live in grassy, wooded areas, but the Lone Star tick isn’t like most ticks, Lubelczyk said.
 
“The areas that you would find the Lone Star tick would be a little bit different. Whereas deer ticks like broadleaf forests with shrubs, Lone Star ticks do quite well in open, dry woodlands,” he said.
 
The CDC recommends people treat their boots, clothing and camping equipment with permethrin, an insecticide that remains protective through multiple washings. Other products include Environmental Protection Agency-registered repellents containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
 
While the Lone Star tick has been seen in Maine, Lubelczyk said, there’s no evidence that suggests the critter is establishing populations in the state.
 
Yet.
 
“We’d probably hear about it. They’re really, really noticeable. They’re big ticks, they’re aggressive and their bite is reportedly painful,” Lubelczyk said. “If they ever do get up here it’s going to be quite a change on the landscape for us.”
 
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.