Lone Star Tick

The “lone star tick” (Amblyomma americanum) has been cited in print since at least 1899. The tick can be found in Texas, but also throughout the Midwest and in the east coast of the United States. A bite from the tick releases a sugar called alpha-gal that humans don’t have. The lone star tick could cause people to get an allergic reaction when they eat meat.
 
“Lone Star Tick can make you allergic to meat, BBQ” is a news headline from August 2014, when the tick made national news.

 
Wikipedia: Amblyomma americanum
Amblyomma americanum, or lone star tick, is a species of tick in the genus Amblyomma.
 
Distribution
It is very widespread in the United States ranging from Texas to Iowa in the Midwest and east to the coast where it can be found as far north as Maine. It is most common in wooded areas, particularly in forests with thick underbrush, and large trees.
 
Chronicling America
20 May 1899, Baxter Springs (KS) News, pg. 4, col. 2:
Inspection No. 1, by Mr. Collins was uneventful, save for the discovery and removal of a few wood ticks, Missouri chiggers and one insect described in tickology as the Lone Star tick.
 
Google Books
Annual Report
Nebraska State Board of Agriculture for the year 1899
Prepared by Robert W. Furnas
Lincoln, NE: State Journal Company
1900
Pg. 204:
Amblgomma americanum, the Lone Star Tick, may be easily recognized by a single bright, silvered spot which is found on the back. The male measures 3 by 2.5 mm. and the female 4.5 by 3 mm., but large specimens exceed these dimensions .
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Pasture management kills lone star ticks
Author: Roland W Portman
Publisher: Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1945.
Series: Circular (University of Missouri. Agricultural Experiment Station), 297.
Edition/Format:   Book : State or province government publication : English
 
Google Books
Tick Fever
By John Robbins Mohler and William Malcolm MacKellar
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1625
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1949
Pg, 11:
LONE STAR TICK
As indicated by Nos. 1 and la of figure 4, the body of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) is oblong oval and of a yellowish-gray or brown color. The skin is rough and puckered unless the body is full of blood.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Natural occurrence of tularemia in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanus (Linn.), and in dogs in Arkansas.
Author: CALHOUN EL
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 1954 Mar; 3(2): 360-6
Database: From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The multiplication of tularemia organisms in the lone star tick.
Author: HOPLA CE
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: American journal of hygiene, 1955 May; 61(3): 371-80
Database: From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum (L.)) in Rhode Island
Author: John A Mathewson
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, v28 n3 (19550701): 101
Database: JSTOR Biological Sciences Collection
   
click2Houston
Lone Star Tick can make you allergic to meat, BBQ
Author: Lauren Freeman, Anchor, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Published On: Aug 08 2014 04:11:45 PM CDT   Updated On: Aug 08 2014 06:53:29 PM CDT
HOUSTON -One bite from a tick could have you swearing off meat. We have a warning from doctors about a tick named for Texas that is making victims allergic to meat.
 
In Texas we love our BBQ, so it was only appropriate to name the tick after the state known for smoked meat. After the Lone Star Tick bites you, it makes you have allergic reactions to meat.
 
The ticks have a sugar that humans don’t have called Alpha-Gal. The sugar is also in red meats and some dairy.
 
Business Insider
A Bug Is Making People Allergic To Meat, And Doctors Don’t Know If It’s Permanent
MARILYNN MARCHIONE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUG. 9, 2014, 3:09 PM
(...)
The culprit is the Lone Star tick, named for Texas, a state famous for meaty barbecues. The tick is now found throughout the South and the eastern half of the United States.
(...)
Here’s how it happens: The bugs harbor a sugar that humans don’t have, called alpha-gal. The sugar is also is found in red meat — beef, pork, venison, rabbit — and even some dairy products. It’s usually fine when people encounter it through food that gets digested.
 
But a tick bite triggers an immune system response, and in that high-alert state, the body perceives the sugar the tick transmitted to the victim’s bloodstream and skin as a foreign substance, and makes antibodies to it. That sets the stage for an allergic reaction the next time the person eats red meat and encounters the sugar.