Reactions to the cancer drug cetuximab, an antibody treatment, triggered early clues to the growing prevalence of the allergy in specific parts of the country where the tick bites were more common. Many patients are still able to eat products like milk or cheese, though some may also need to cut these dairy products too in order to avoid symptoms.Ĭhef struggles with red meat allergy caused by ticks 01:51 The list of foods that can contain alpha-gal includes red meat, like beef, pork or lamb, especially in cuts of organ meat like liver. What is alpha-gal syndrome?Īlpha-gal syndrome refers specifically to an allergic reaction against a sugar molecule that scientists call oligosaccharide galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose - nicknamed alpha-gal - that is found in many foods made from mammals. 'If testing trends continue, and the geographic range of the lone star tick continues to expand, the number of AGS cases in the United States is predicted to increase during the coming years,' the authors wrote. may have been affected by alpha-gal syndrome since 2010. 'The lack of knowledge of is likely to lead to under testing, further hampering knowledge of the national prevalence,' that study's authors wrote of their findings.Ĭombined with the survey findings, as well as previous testing results collected through 2018, the CDC estimates that up to 450,000 people in the U.S. 'ases outside the established range of this tick species need to be further investigated to better understand exposure history and contributing factors associated with the onset of this allergic condition,' the study's authors wrote.Ī separate study surveying a panel of 1,500 primary care doctors, pediatricians, physician assistants and nurses found 42% had never heard of the syndrome, with another 35% saying they were 'not too confident' in their ability to diagnose or manage patients who have it. A bite from this tick could give you a life-threatening allergy to red meat.have also been linked to alpha-gal syndrome. However, positive tests also found clusters of cases in residents of counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where lone star ticks are not known to be living. Lone star ticks have been spotted across a broad swath of the country, from Texas through Maine. Most cases were identified in southern and eastern states known to harbor the lone star tick, whose saliva is linked to the allergy. While false positives are possible, CDC says separate unpublished surveillance data from New Jersey suggests around 90% of people who test positive had clinical symptoms consistent with the red meat allergy. Positive blood tests for alpha-gal syndrome generally climbed each year from 13,371 in 2017 to 18,885 in 2021, aside from a dip during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside of a handful of academic or specialty clinics, the CDC says other commercial labs did not begin offering alpha-gal testing until 2021. In one study, researchers looked at data from Eurofins Viracor, the lab responsible 'for nearly all testing in the United States before 2022' of suspected alpha-gal cases.

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