OUR DAILY THREAD: Tick Talk
Ticking time bombs
THE SET-UP: Seven years ago I wrote about the spread of the lone star tick well beyond its traditional range in eastern half of the Sunbelt. At that time, the warming climate opened up vast swathes of the upper Midwest and New England to the tick and it carried an ironic disease—Alpha-gal Syndrome (AGS).
It’s irony is rooted in the nature of the disease, which causes a potentially deadly allergic reaction to meat and dairy. The ironic coincidence that an allergy to meat was being carried by a tick named after Texas was matched by the irony of a Texas-named tick spreading that allergy thanks in large part to Texas’ climate-altering oil and gas industry.
Seven years later the irony is not nearly as delicious as it once was. Back then, public opinion was trending toward wider public acknowledgement of something the oil companies knew for decades. Against that backdrop, the lone star tick and Alpha-gal Syndrome were ironic harbingers of things to come … things, it seemed, we could still do something to avoid. But the shocking ease with which Donald Trump simply waved away concerns about or mentions of the climate or anything that has to do with the environment showed us how unlikely a course correction was then, and how unlikely it is going forward.
Now, seven years later, the lone star tick is spreading another disease—so-called Bourbon virus. Named after the Kansas county where it was first discovered, the virus is potentially deadly and wholly uncurable. And that’s just the tip of the (melting) iceberg. Tick-borne diseases are proliferating.
Waving away the issue may have fired-up his base and rewarded donors, but it did nothing to stop the ticks or the ever-warmer weather that’s opened up most of North America to them. Because climate change no longer officially exists for the US federal government, little else will be done. - jp
What is rabbit fever? Disease you can catch mowing your lawn has infected 3 on Long Island
https://nypost.com/health/what-is-rabbit-fever-tularemia/
Three cases of rare tick-borne disease ‘rabbit fever’ suspected in New York
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/health/rabbit-fever-tularemia-new-york
Rare Tick Virus Is 'Just the Tip of the Iceberg,' Infectious Disease Expert Says
https://wjactv.com/news/local/rare-tick-virus-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-infectious-disease-expert-says
No cure, no vaccine: Experts warn of rare Bourbon virus after first NY case
https://www.foxnews.com/health/no-cure-no-vaccine-experts-warn-rare-bourbon-virus-after-first-ny-case
New York, the Bourbon virus and Lone Star ticks
https://outbreaknewstoday.substack.com/p/new-york-the-bourbon-virus-and-lone
Hiker stopped at his tent flap in New York's Catskills and found 20 lone star ticks at 3,000 feet
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/hiker-finds-lone-star-ticks-catskills/
The great tick explosion: a tiny threat tests America’s love of nature
https://www.ft.com/content/16b0f91e-3615-4e77-96cb-f2edb5f36ea6
Lyme disease is becoming one of Canada's defining climate-health challenges
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/20/news/canada-climate-change-lyme-disease
Tick bites drive global surge in alpha-gal meat allergy with no cure
https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/79225
The Ticks Are Winning
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/08/the-ticks-are-winning/