This undated picture supplied by the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention exhibits a feminine Lone Star tick, which regardless of its Texas-sounding identify, is discovered primarily within the Southeast. Credit score: James Gathany/CDC by way of AP
Researchers have reported what they imagine is the primary documented loss of life from a meat allergy that may be triggered by tick bites.
A 47-year-old New Jersey man died final 12 months from alpha-gal syndrome, which in 2011 was first linked to bites from the Lone Star tick.
Greater than 100,000 individuals within the U.S. have grow to be allergic to pink meat since 2010 due to the syndrome, based on one estimate.
Some exterior specialists mentioned it seems to be the primary documented case of somebody struggling a lethal alpha-gal response shortly after consuming meat.
It is doable different deaths have occurred however had been assumed to be from different causes and never totally investigated like this one was, mentioned Joshua Benoit, a tick biologist on the College of Cincinnati.
A Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention spokesperson mentioned the company was not concerned on this investigation and couldn’t communicate definitively about whether or not it is the primary such loss of life. The CDC just lately launched a free on-line coaching module to extend consciousness and enhance diagnosing, she added.
Dr. Scott Commins, a number one alpha-gal syndrome researcher on the College of North Carolina, referred to as the loss of life an “unmitigated tragedy.”
The case report was printed this week within the Journal of Allergy and Scientific Immunology. The lead writer was the College of Virginia’s Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, who led the 2011 paper that first linked Lone Star tick bites to the meat allergy.
Individuals with alpha-gal syndrome can expertise signs together with hives, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, extreme abdomen ache, problem respiration, dizziness and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue or eye lids. In contrast to another meals allergy symptoms, which happen quickly after consuming, these reactions sometimes hit hours later.
The brand new report tells of a wholesome airline pilot who in the summertime of 2024 went on a tenting journey together with his spouse and youngsters. They’d steak as a part of a late supper. That was uncommon—the person hardly ever ate meat.
He awakened at 2 a.m. with extreme abdomen ache, diarrhea and vomiting. He steadily felt higher, went again to sleep, and the subsequent morning he felt properly sufficient to eat breakfast and stroll 5 miles.
Two weeks later, again dwelling in New Jersey, he went to a barbecue, the place he ate a hamburger. About 4 hours later, he grew sick. A short while after that, his son discovered him unconscious on the toilet flooring. The son referred to as paramedics, however the man was declared useless that night time at a hospital.
The researchers mentioned blood exams revealed proof of alpha-gal syndrome. Proof that it got here from a Lone Star tick is incomplete. The authors made the hyperlink based mostly on a press release from the person’s spouse, who had mentioned he had 12 or 13 “chigger” bites round his ankles earlier in the summertime.
However the conclusion is sensible, as individuals within the japanese U.S. typically mistake the bites from mites with these from larval ticks, Commins mentioned.
The variety of instances of Alpha-gal syndrome is rising for a wide range of causes, together with the Lone Star tick’s increasing vary, extra individuals coming into contact with the ticks and extra medical doctors studying about it and ordering exams for it.
It might take weeks or longer for contaminated individuals to develop the syndrome, which is called for the alpha-gal carbohydrate discovered within the tick’s saliva. Preliminary reactions to pink meat could also be milder however develop progressively extra extreme, Benoit mentioned.
Some sufferers have solely abdomen signs, and the American Gastroenterological Affiliation has suggested that folks with unexplained diarrhea, nausea and stomach ache needs to be examined for the syndrome.
© 2025 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
Quotation:
Scientists doc a loss of life from a meat allergy tied to sure ticks (2025, November 15)
retrieved 15 November 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-11-scientists-document-death-meat-allergy.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Other than any honest dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is supplied for info functions solely.
