Tick Bite Starts Meat Allergy

A new risk has been identified from tick bites, and this one is connected, strangely, to a meat allergy. It appears that certain tick bites can cause delayed anaphylaxis, a severe form of allergic reaction, after eating red meat.

It appears the reaction is caused by the production of antibodies after a tick bite that falsely target a specific form of carbohydrate, alpha-gal.

Which Ticks Can Cause The Allergy?
Lone Star ticks, a form of aggressive female tick, are the most likely to cause the complicated chain of reactions that can lead to anaphylaxis.

These ticks can easily be identified, though, based on the distinctive white spot on the center of their back.

How Can I Avoid The Lone Star Tick?
In any area of the country with a native tick population, such as the southeast, it’s important to take extra precaution against tick bites.

During the early spring and late summer months, be especially careful not to attract ticks because they’re especially active during this time of year. Avoid areas with high grass, and avoid extremely dense, bushy wooded areas as well.

• If you’re a hiker, be sure to use insect repellant. Also, try to stay on the main part of the trails. Leaving the beaten path may seem adventurous, but it’s a lot more likely to have you end up with a tick under your clothes.

Once you get back from a long period outside, take a shower and be careful to inspect your skin for possible ticks. A tick won’t simply bite you and leave. Instead it will stay attached to your skin until it has gotten its fill of your blood.

How Long Does the Meat Allergy Last?
Unfortunately, the immune response caused by this particular tick is not a short-term problem. Instead, it’s a condition that’s a lasting factor in people’s lives, still affecting them

for years after the original bite.

It’s not because the tick leaves something behind, but because it changes the way the immune system produces antibodies. It triggers a change in your body’s response that is ongoing.

• Also, it’s important to note that the tick-induced meat allergy is only to mammalian meat, not fish or poultry. Thankfully, this fact could make proper nutrition easier for someone who develops this allergy.

Unfortunately, though, especially for any southeasterners who might develop this allergy, bacon, hamburgers, and pork rinds will be off the list.