Tick bites and meat allergies: What to know
For some people, enjoying a steak or burger can unexpectedly result in a serious allergic reaction – even after years of regularly consuming the food without an issue. The condition is called alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) and is becoming more prevalent than ever before.
AGS is an allergy and tick-borne disease spread through the saliva of some ticks, mainly the lone star tick. If you’re bitten, it can be transferred into your blood and trigger an allergic reaction.
“AGS is a really bizarre phenomenon that causes individuals to become allergic to mammalian or red meats, like beef, pork and lamb,” says Dr. Maaria Syed, an allergist and immunologist at Advocate Health Care. “Often patients come in thinking they are having random reactions because it’s hard for them to associate an allergy with foods they’ve been tolerating for years.”
Symptoms of AGS
While they can vary from person to person, there are some overarching symptoms of AGS:
- Hives or itchy rash
- Nausea or vomiting
- Severe stomach pain
- Heartburn or indigestion
- Diarrhea
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Sudden drop in blood pressure
- Swollen lips, throat, tongue or eye lids
- Dizziness or faintness
- Anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction involving multiple organ systems
Symptoms can appear anywhere between two to six hours after eating meat or dairy products and can range from mild to severe.
“If you’re diagnosed with AGS, you’ll have to make some lifestyle changes,” says Dr. Syed. “Mostly, you’ll have to stop eating any meat that is not poultry. Most individuals with alpha-gal syndrome can tolerate milk but there are rare exceptions to that rule.”
Dr. Syed says it’s also important to work with your health care provider to determine a complete list of items you should avoid going forward.
How to prevent AGS
Dr. Syed says to prevent getting AGS, you have to practice tick safety. This includes:
- Using insect repellents with DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD) or 2-undecanone
- Treating your clothes and gear with permethrin
- Doing regular tick inspections after being outdoors
- Wearing hats, long-sleeve shirts and full length pants when spending time outdoors
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About the Author
health enews contributor, is on the digital content team at Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. They received their bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and French from Ohio Wesleyan University. Outside of work, they are a writer and comedian and can be found in the mountains during their free time.
