From BBC Future, 1 February 2016:
Walking through Sydney’s northern beaches in the height of summer, the dense, humid bush is alive with the buzz of cicadas, the screech of rosellas, and the mouth-watering smell of barbecue.
But hiding in the undergrowth is a tiny creature that is forcing some unrepentant carnivores to turn their back on sausages, steaks and meat pies. It sounds like a fate worse than death for a meat-loving Australian. But worse is the extreme allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis which can constrict airways, drop your blood pressure through your boots, and kill you.
Thanks to the common paralysis tick, also known as Ixodes holocyclus, more than 800 people around Sydney’s northern beaches have developed a dangerous and otherwise extremely rare allergy to mammalian meat. Read more.