Blood-sucking ticks that trigger a bizarre allergy to meat in the people they bite are exploding in number and spreading across the US, to the extent that they could cover the entire eastern half of the country and infect millions of people, experts have warned.

This happened to a very good friend. He was bitten by a tick while out fishing and it ended up almost killing him. If it had been anyone else, the claim of "I am now alergic to meat" would have been scoffed at.