Disease, Drought, Climate Change - And the Joy of Fighting Back

Key Points:

• Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-borne illness causing severe mammalian meat allergies, is emerging in Rappahannock County alongside other tick-related diseases, with researchers linking it to several deaths and local restaurants adapting menus accordingly.
• Chronic wasting disease in deer and hantavirus carried by rodents pose additional health risks, though hantavirus cases remain extremely rare on the East Coast despite some alarming AI-generated predictions.
• Climate change is driving the spread of these diseases by enabling ticks to thrive and contributing to severe drought and late freezes in the region, which are damaging local flora and agriculture.
• The author describes personal efforts to sustain native plants amid drought conditions, including manual watering and well management, while observing that some wildlife species continue to survive and thrive despite environmental stresses.
• Despite the challenges posed by disease risks and climate change, the author finds hope in the resilience of nature and the positive impact of habitat restoration on local biodiversity.