The Bug That Can Give You a Steak Allergy May Be in Your Home

After a hike, you might bring home more than just dirt and sweat. Ticks can hitch a ride on your socks and shoes and survive inside your house for three weeks, according to a new study. Even if you do all the right things, using 20 percent DEET bug spray and wearing long pants and a hat, these tiny suckers find their way to your hair, body, and eventually your home.

Lone Star and Gulf Coast Ticks

Researchers from Ohio State University studied Lone Star and Gulf Coast ticks, which can transmit pathogens to make people and their pets very sick.

Survival of the Fittest

Ticks are pretty resilient. They can survive on tile, wood, vinyl, and various types of carpet. They can hide the best in long-pile carpet.

How to Get Rid of Ticks

Once you get inside, check your pets with a brush or lint roller. You should also change clothes and put your outside clothes in the dryer. It should take about 10 minutes on high heat to kill the ticks, according to the CDC and the U.S. Forest Service. Shower and do a head-to-toe check. Ticks tend to like the warm spots on the body: under arms, groin, and behind the knees.

Emerging Tick Diseases

Ticks harbor some diseases that you want to avoid, especially if you like to eat a nice steak. One strange disease, called alpha gal, is causing people who have been bitten by Lone Star ticks to become dangerously allergic to red meat, pork, lamb, and even dairy products, according to the Mayo Clinic.

This disease was first discovered by Dr. Platts-Mills in 2007. He’s the head of the University of Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Treatment for alpha gal includes a diet overhaul, and you might need to carry an EpiPen for severe reactions, which occur between three to six hours after you eat something you’re allergic to.