A bug bite could make you put down your fork when it comes to eating meat. Doctors have found that certain tick bites are behind a series of increased allergies to red meat.
After patients were sent to the hospital with serious allergic reactions, doctors were able to link the cases to a specific kind tick bite a few years ago. However, the problem has recently spread to more parts of the U.S., including the South and eastern half.
Named after Texas barbecues, famous for their meaty meals, the Lone Star tick has a sugar that our bodies doesn't produce that triggers an immune system response. The sugar, called alpha-gal, is commonly found in red meats, including beef, port, venison and rabbit, as well as some dairy products. When we consume these foods, our bodies are able to digest properly. The Lone Star tick bite however, causes the body to interpret the sugar as a foreign substance and begins to create antibodies to protect the immune system.
After this tick bite, the next time you taste a juicy hamburger might be enough to have you never eat one again.
Once the antibodies are produced, eating meat will cause an allergic reaction. Few patients realize the risk. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include: hives, swollen tongue or lips, closing airways and a burning sensation.
The reason for this severe reaction to eating a hamburger or steak is also hard for doctors to recognize. Symptoms can occur eight hours after eating meat. Food allergies are usually associated with protein, not carbohydrates, such as sugar.
"I see two to three new cases every week," said Dr. Scott Commins of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who with a colleague published the first paper tying the tick to the illness in 2011. The meat allergy "does not seem to be lifelong, but the caveat is, additional tick bites bring it back," he said.
Mild reactions can be treated with antihistamines or epinephrine. Long Island, New York has seen approximately 200 cases in the last three years. 30 of these cases involved children as young as four.
Other ticks that could cause meat allergies have also been reported in France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Korea and Australia.
