Man With Tick-Borne Meat Allergy Dies after Eating Burger

Man with tick-borne meat allergy dies after eating burger

TO Claire Cameron edited by Lewis asked

Scientists have confirmed the first death linked to a severe meat allergy caused by a tick bite. The man who died in 2024 after eating a hamburger alpha gal syndromean illness caused by tick bites that causes anaphylactic reactions in people to red meat and other animal products.

a man's business detailed in an article published this week in the magazine Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. A man began vomiting hours after eating a hamburger at a barbecue in New Jersey, according to researchers.

Two weeks before his death, the man had an allergic reaction to steak. “The tragedy is that they did not consider the episode to be anaphylaxisand therefore did not associate it with beef at the time,” study co-author Thomas Platts-Mills, an allergist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine who helped discover alpha-gal syndrome and diagnose the New Jersey case, told the publication. NBC News.

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Alpha-gal syndrome causes allergic reactions to a sugar molecule in meat. It doesn't look like it other food allergieshowever, the response is often delayed: people may feel nauseous several hours after eating the meat, and symptoms may be confused with food poisoning. The syndrome is most often caused by a lone star tick bite, although bites from other ticks can cause the syndrome.

Scientists suspect many people have alpha-gal syndrome may not know They have it – in this man's case, it took scientists months to figure out that he had the syndrome and died from it. And with warmer winters, tick bites are becoming more common year-round.

People who suspect they may have the syndrome can get tested to confirm it. Although there is no cure for alpha gal, scientists recommend that people with the condition avoid all meat products, as well as dairy products, gelatin, and some medications made from these foods.

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