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A man in his 60s from New Jersey has developed a meat allergy after being bitten by a tick. The bite of the “star tick” called Amblyomma americanum can actually cause such an allergy. The parasite, present in the United States and Australia, has already claimed several thousand victims.
Bitten by a tick, a sexagenarian must give up meat
THE DailyMail reports the case of a 62-year-old man from New Jersey who developed an incurable allergy to meat after being bitten by a tick. Craig Smith suffers from alpha-gal syndrome (AGS also called alpha-gal allergy, red meat allergy or tick bite allergy). This incurable disease thus forcing this claimed carnivore to adopt his diet (replacing red meat with chicken, fish and vegetables). A year after the bite, his condition has not improved…
Star tick responsible for this meat allergy
In 2011, two American researchers from the University of Virginia wanted to understand why more and more people in the United States and Australia are becoming allergic to meat overnight. After conducting tests on these patients, Thomas Platts-Mills and Scott Commins found that 80% of them reported being bitten by a tick.
Responsible would beAmblyomma americanum, a tick identified in 2011 as responsible for producing antibodies against the carbohydrate alpha-gal, the allergen found in meat. Also called star tick, because of the small spot on its back, this
The bite of this tick orders the immune system to reject meat.
A potentially fatal allergy
Sufferers experience within two to six hours after eating red meat or, in some cases, after being exposed to its vapors:
- Hives or itchy rash;
- Nausea or vomiting;
- Heartburn or indigestion;
- Diarrhea;
- Cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing;
- Drop in blood pressure;
- swelling of the lips, throat, tongue or eyelids;
- Dizziness or fainting;
- Severe stomach pains;
In the most serious cases it can cause anaphylactic shock or even death.
No treatment available for meat allergy
Questions still remain about this link between tick bite and meat allergy. Researchers are now trying to find out if the allergy occurs after several tick bites and which substances are responsible for the allergy.
In the absence of treatment, patients are advised to avoid any product containing SFA, a sugar molecule found in red meats, including beef, pork and venison (big game).
Mainly present in the United States, the tick Amblyomma americanum has also been found in Australia. Europe is spared for the moment, but until when?