When you become allergic to meat

A tick-borne syndrome that triggers an allergy to meat and animal products is spreading throughout the southeastern U.S. and the world, and it has doctors baffled — and worried

Meat.
(Image credit: Hennadii/iStock)

Adapted from an article that originally appeared in Mosaic.

It is early morning in early summer, and I am tracing my way through the woods of central North Carolina, steering cautiously around S-curves and braking hard when what looks like a small rise turns into a narrow bridge. I am on my way to meet Tami McGraw, who lives with her husband and the youngest of their kids in a sprawling development of old trees and wide lawns just south of Chapel Hill. Before I reach her, McGraw emails. She wants to feed me when I get there: "Would you like to try emu?" she asks. "Or perhaps some duck?"

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