A little bit-known, life-threatening food allergy that’s triggered by a tick bite may very well be affecting a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals within the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Thursday.
The condition is named Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) — also generally known as the “red-meat allergy” or the “tick bite meat allergy.” It begins with a bite from the Lone Star tick, found primarily in Southeastern and Eastern states.
The tick’s saliva comprises a sugar molecule called alpha-gal, which is injected into the body with the bite.
This triggers allergies to certain varieties of beef(primarily pork, beef, rabbit, lamb or venison) or products constructed from mammals (including cheese, milk, other dairy products and gelatin).
When people eat any foods containing the allergens, they’ll experience serious allergy symptoms inside a number of hours.
The CDC has only been aware of Alpha-Gal Syndrome since 2008, in accordance with Dr. Johanna Salzer, CDC epidemiologist and a senior writer of the brand new report.
“We’ve got seen an annual increase within the numbers of suspected Alpha-Gal Syndrome cases between 2010 and 2022,” she told Fox News Digital.
Between 2017 and 2021, out of 300,000 tests done, 30% were positive for AGS, the CDC present in one study.
Officially, the CDC has received reports of over 110,000 suspected cases — however it’s believed that the actual number may very well be as high as 450,000 people.
It’s because many individuals likely don’t get tested and lots of physicians haven’t even heard of the condition, Salzer said.
“Based on our survey of 1,500 physicians and medical professionals, nearly half of them had never even heard of the syndrome,” she said. “One other third of them said they’ve heard of it, but that they’ve little confidence of their ability to diagnose [it] or manage a patient [with it].”
She added, “It’s essential for them to concentrate on this condition and the range of the way through which people can present, in addition to the geographic areas where we’ve identified suspected cases and potential hot spots.”
Alpha-Gal syndrome: ‘Milder to more severe reactions’
In the primary documented case of AGS, Salzer said someone ate a steak dinner at night, then woke up at 2 a.m. having an anaphylactic response, which led to an emergency room visit.
“We now know that folks can range from milder to more severe reactions,” she said. “It’s inconsistent between individuals. Some people only have gastroinestinal symptoms and others have more severe anaphylactic reactions.”
Another common symptoms include hives; itchy or scaly skin; swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat; wheezing or shortness of breath; and stomach pain, diarrhea, upset stomach or vomiting, in accordance with the Mayo Clinic’s website.
Complicating things further, the identical person can have different reactions at different times.
“Someday, an individual could eat a hamburger that causes an anaphylactic response, sending them to the ER — but then the following day they may eat meat and hamburgers and never have any symptoms,” Salzer said.
“This makes it difficult for each the patient and a health care provider to grasp what’s triggering these symptoms.”
Dr. Scott Commins, associate professor of medication and associate chief for allergy and immunology at UNC Medicine in North Carolina, was a co-author of the CDC reports.
He often hears of patients having “middle-of-the-night symptoms” — mainly hives, itching and abdominal pain.
“A red, itchy spot where the tick bite occurred, which may take weeks to heal, can be commonly reported,” he told Fox News Digital.
Some patients describe only having gastrointestinal symptoms — severe abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea — so if this happens repeatedly after eating beef, that could be a sign of the allergy and should be value having the blood test performed,” he added.
A diagnosis of AGS requires antibody testing and a clinical exam.
Many patients face a protracted road to diagnosis — a median of seven years, Salzer said.
“And to get diagnosed, they must have access to an allergist,” she noted. “For many individuals, there are barriers to get that level of treatment.”
When someone is diagnosed with AGS, the person can have it for a lifetime, Salzer said.
“Nevertheless, for some people, in the event that they remove the foods from their eating regimen that may reactivate Alpha Gal syndrome, over time, their antibody levels may drop,” she noted.
Currently, there is no such thing as a treatment or cure for AGS — though physicians might help patients manage their symptoms.
“There are plenty of things [that] health care providers can provide to alleviate symptoms depending on the patients’ individual reactions,” Salzer said.
“Those with more severe reactions are administered Epi-Pens in case they go into anaphylactic shock.”
The CDC has not recorded any known fatalities from Alpha-Gal Syndrome.
What to know in regards to the Lone Star tick
The Lone Star tick is found primarily throughout the Eastern, Southeastern and South-Central states, in accordance with the CDC.
“We’re seeing that the geographic pattern is type of a contiguous region between the South, the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic region, which follows very closely to the Lone Star tick’s established populations,” Salzer said.
“So, we still imagine that it’s the first tick species within the US that’s related to Alpha-Gal Syndrome, but different kinds of ticks haven’t been ruled out,” Salzer added.
There have been some clusters of cases in other regions outside the Lone Star tick’s primary areas, corresponding to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“That means there could also be one other tick species involved, or that there are perhaps pockets of Lone Star tick populations which have not yet been documented,” Salzer explained.
To guard against tick bites, Salzer recommends applying EPA-approved insect repellent — those containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD) or 2-undecanone — at any time when going into an area where tick bites are a possibility.
Wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants and socks may also help to forestall bites, together with avoiding grassy, brushy and wooded areas.
“When coming back from an area that is understood to have ticks, remember to shower and do a really thorough check,” she added.
There may be a seasonal factor to think about, because the cases occur more in warm months when folks are outside and ticks are lively, Commins noted.
“The allergy itself does appear to resolve completely for a lot of patients who can successfully avoid additional tick bites,” he said.
“We discover that continued, occasional bites could be sufficient to maintain the allergy present.”
With its recent reports, the CDC goals to teach physicians and patients about an emerging public health problem that may have potentially severe health impacts, said Dr. Ann Carpenter, epidemiologist and lead writer of one in every of the papers released on Thursday.
“It’s critical for clinicians to concentrate on AGS in order that they can properly evaluate, diagnose and manage their patients and in addition educate them on tick-bite prevention to guard patients from developing this allergic condition,” said Carpenter within the CDC report.
