Imagine you sit down for dinner with your family. Your spouse has made steaks, baked potatoes and a salad, your favorite. Your children helped. You are celebrating, it’s your birthday, your anniversary, or you received a promotion. Three hours later, your face and lips start to swell. You scare your spouse and children and they have to call 911. The ambulance is taking you away. You cannot breathe, your throat is closing. You have broken out in hives. Your lips have turned blue. You are in anaphylaxis.
This scenario played out approximately 100 times in our community. Why?
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Ticks, the Alpha-gal and the potential to be deadly.
Find out what's happening in East Hamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to the National Institute of Health, this scenario is playing out among healthy adults, who ate red meat for years, and then were bitten by a lone star tick. The tick only has to attach for under a minute to stimulate the production of IgE antibodies. So, if you have had a lone star tick on you, it is possible that this scenario could be in your future.
To put is simply, an allergy to all red meat is triggered in your body due to a tick bite, an allergy that is so severe, that you will never be able to eat any red meat again, or you will go into anaphylactic shock. Alpha-Gal.
This is only one of 6 different ways that ticks and tick-borne diseases are destroying lives in our community.
Currently, East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village are getting ready to reduce the number of deer in our community. When this takes place what are you planning to do about the ticks?
In 8 weeks the ticks will begin to emerge from their winter slumber. This community will be under siege once again.
GETTING RID OF THE DEER WILL NOT GET RID OF THE TICKS. What will happen is an increased number of tick-borne diseases among humans, dogs and horses. Should we begin to send the bill to the Town every time we get a tick-borne disease?
Why? Ticks are very resourceful and can adapt very easily. Ticks live on 100 different mammals and birds in our area. An ecosystem is a circle, remove one part of the circle and the remaining section will wobble. Remove or treat several parts of the circle and it will remain stable.
If The Town and Village are serious about the health of the residents of this town, a multi prong approach MUST be implemented, simultaneously. Three to four different methods must be administered AT THE SAME TIME. Since both the town and the village have refused to contact one entomologist, one expert at the CDC, they become liable for their lack of commitment to this community.
On page 4 of the town’s environmental assessment in the town’s deer management plan, the town states that there would be no impact to the public health because the humans have already had ticks on them. SHAME ON THEM! I have actually taken the time to call and sit down with experts to educate myself about the facts, not opinions or assumptions. This example is one of approximately 80 mistakes that are in the Deer Management Plan that the Town of East Hampton adopted.
The Shelter Island Study should have been the blueprint that they should have studied and learned from. It is a very interesting read.
To the residents of this community, if the town goes ahead with the slaughter of the deer BEFORE a FULL plan to reduce the ticks in our community is put in place, you will be forced to spray your property to protect your family. Forget the organic sprays, you will need to use the most potent insecticides on the market to insure the health of your family. Spray everything! Spray often! Tell your neighbors to spray! You will have only 8 weeks to put your plan in place before the onslaught, at an average cost of $2,000.00 per property.
I plan on spraying as much and as often as I can, starting as soon as possible. Will the town reimburse me? It is, after all, their actions that are forcing me to protect my family.
I hope that until East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village have a plan with a multi prong approach, they realize that the health of the residents of our community is at risk because of their actions and should be their highest priorty.
Question? Where will the ticks go after they kill the deer?
Answer: On you, your family, your children, grandchildren and your pets.
