If you’ve recently been bitten by a tick, you’re at risk of a deadly new allergic condition.
Alpha-Gal Syndrome, or AGS, causes a red meat allergy in humans. It is triggered when a person is bitten by a tick – most commonly the lone star tick – that carries the alpha-gal sugar.
When the tick bites someone it injects the sugar into the person’s body and causes the immune system to develop antibodies that attack it.
Alpha-gal molecules are also found in the meat of most mammals, including pork, beef, venison and other red meats, as well as milk, gelatin or other animal products.
When a person eats these foods, the body detects the alpha-gal and attacks it. This immune response can lead to a life-threatening allergic reaction.
According to the CDC, approximately 110,000 cases have been documented since 2010, but because of underreporting or misdiagnoses, the true number could be as high as 450,000.
And numbers are growing, experts warn, as temperatures rise and ticks survive milder winters.
Health officials have said they are not aware of any confirmed deaths from AGS, but there is a risk if the allergic reaction becomes severe.
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is triggered when a person is bitten by a tick – most commonly the lone star tick (pictured above) – that carries the alpha-gal sugar.
Brandon Hollingsworth, a tick expert at the University of South Carolina, told The Guardian: ‘We thought this thing was relatively rare 10 years ago but it’s become more and more common and it’s something I expect to continue to grow very rapidly.’
Cases have been predominantly in southern, midwestern and mid-Atlantic regions of the US, but recent testing on human and tick samples suggests millions more Americans could be at risk because the tick that causes AGS is spreading to new geographical areas.
Additionally, it’s been found the condition is increasingly being passed on to humans by new species of ticks.
Laura Harrington, a disease specialist at Cornell, added: ‘With their adaptive nature and increasing temperatures, I don’t see many limits to these ticks over time.’
According to Allergen Insider, symptoms not only come from eating red meat but in more severe cases people reported that they experienced symptoms after just inhaling fumes of mammalian meat being cooked.
AGS may not show symptoms immediately, which is why it is difficult to link the allergy to a tick bite.
After consuming meat it can be between two to six hours before any symptoms appear.
And they can vary widely, including hives or an itchy rash, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, diarrhea, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, dizziness, stomach pain and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or eyelids.
The Lone Star Tick bite is largely responsible for the condition, and can be found in the southeastern US, but they are slowly spreading north with rising temperatures.
In a recent case study, a 61-year-old woman experienced two major allergic reactions brought on by Alpha-Gal Syndrome after eating beef and pork tacos.
During her first experience, 29 days after a tick bite, she developed hives and swelling but her mild symptoms resolved with over-the-counter allergy medication.
But during her second episode a month later, her tongue swelled so much that she could not speak and was rushed to the hospital, as her blood pressure dropped dangerously low and heart rate increased rapidly.
Cases have been predominantly in southern, midwestern and mid-Atlantic regions of the US, but millions more could be at risk because the tick that causes AGS is spreading to new areas
She was given epinephrine – the typical treatment for allergic reactions – but her symptoms worsened and her throat began to close.
The woman was then given steroids and by the time she arrived at the hospital her condition began to improve.
While she originally reported no significant event preceding either allergic reaction, in later interviews she said about a month before the first episode she had been bitten by a tick and was treated with an antibiotic.
To prevent AGS, experts recommend checking for ticks after spending time outdoors. If you discover a tick bite, quickly remove the tick, disinfect the area, and monitor yourself for symptoms.
They also stress the importance of increased surveillance of AGS and the types of ticks people acquire the condition from as ticks and states that historically have not posed the risk of AGS are increasingly being traced as the source.
Hollingsworth said: ‘We’ve seen an explosive increase in these ticks, which is a concern. I imagine alpha-gal will soon include the entire range of the tick, which could become the entire eastern half of the US as there’s not much to stop them.
‘It seems like an oddity now but we could end up with millions of people with an allergy to meat.’
