A tick making you allergic to beer probably would be worse, but being allergic to red meat would be a close second in Wisconsin.
UW-Madison researchers announced on Monday that the lone star tick has been found in the Badger State, possibly the first time this southern resident has been found here.
The tick is called lone star because of a single white splotch on the back of the female.
The Amblyomma Americanum, the scientific name of the tick, is found from Texas to Maine, but rarely has been found in the Midwest.
Susan Paskewitz, entomology professor at UW-Madison, said in a news release that the lone star tick has been found in at least seven Wisconsin counties.
"The signs are telling me they are close to established, if not already established, in the southern part of the state," Paskewitz said in the release. "I took one off my daughter recently, my staff picked up two ticks working at the Arboretum and I picked one up in Price County, which is surprisingly far north."
A JSOnline article said the lone star tick has been discovered in Dane, Milwaukee, Price, Brown, Marathon, St. Croix and Waukesha counties.
The lone star tick bite can transmit bacteria that causes conditions such as human monocytic ehrlichiosis, a potentially debilitating and dangerous disease characterized by fever, muscle aches and fatigue.
"There also is a more rare reaction to Amblyomma in which a bite makes some people develop an allergy to red meat," Paskewitz said. "That would probably bother a lot of people in Wisconsin."
The common symptoms with ehrlichiosis are not unlike other tick-borne infections such as Lyme disease, so identifying and tracking specific species is helpful to state health officials.
"Some of these things, you get sick with them and tests come back negative because we aren't even looking for that type of infection," Paskewitz said.
Anyone suspecting a tick is a lone star tick should send a photo or the actual tick to Paskewitz.
"We could use the specimens," she said. "Just drop the tick in a sealed plastic bag and freeze it, or heat it up on your dashboard in the sun."
Instructions for identifying and submitting a lone star tick are here.
More bad news about the lone star tick: It's aggressive.
"They'll crawl right after you," Paskewitz said. "They don't wait for you to come to them, but they aren't any more dangerous."
The lone star tick will have a hard time replacing the deer tick as the state's most despised tick, and deer ticks are having a field day this year.
Paskewitz said she's found 30 deer ticks at a time when dragging a square meter of white fabric through the woods, across lawns or in prairie grass.
UW-Madison researchers announced on Monday that the lone star tick has been found in the Badger State, possibly the first time this southern resident has been found here.
The tick is called lone star because of a single white splotch on the back of the female.
The Amblyomma Americanum, the scientific name of the tick, is found from Texas to Maine, but rarely has been found in the Midwest.
Susan Paskewitz, entomology professor at UW-Madison, said in a news release that the lone star tick has been found in at least seven Wisconsin counties.
"The signs are telling me they are close to established, if not already established, in the southern part of the state," Paskewitz said in the release. "I took one off my daughter recently, my staff picked up two ticks working at the Arboretum and I picked one up in Price County, which is surprisingly far north."
A JSOnline article said the lone star tick has been discovered in Dane, Milwaukee, Price, Brown, Marathon, St. Croix and Waukesha counties.
The lone star tick bite can transmit bacteria that causes conditions such as human monocytic ehrlichiosis, a potentially debilitating and dangerous disease characterized by fever, muscle aches and fatigue.
"There also is a more rare reaction to Amblyomma in which a bite makes some people develop an allergy to red meat," Paskewitz said. "That would probably bother a lot of people in Wisconsin."
The common symptoms with ehrlichiosis are not unlike other tick-borne infections such as Lyme disease, so identifying and tracking specific species is helpful to state health officials.
"Some of these things, you get sick with them and tests come back negative because we aren't even looking for that type of infection," Paskewitz said.
Anyone suspecting a tick is a lone star tick should send a photo or the actual tick to Paskewitz.
"We could use the specimens," she said. "Just drop the tick in a sealed plastic bag and freeze it, or heat it up on your dashboard in the sun."
Instructions for identifying and submitting a lone star tick are here.
More bad news about the lone star tick: It's aggressive.
"They'll crawl right after you," Paskewitz said. "They don't wait for you to come to them, but they aren't any more dangerous."
The lone star tick will have a hard time replacing the deer tick as the state's most despised tick, and deer ticks are having a field day this year.
Paskewitz said she's found 30 deer ticks at a time when dragging a square meter of white fabric through the woods, across lawns or in prairie grass.
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