Researchers Close in on Alpha-Gal Syndrome Meat Allergy Mystery Linked to Ticks

Is wild-habitat disruption to blame for the increasing U.S. prevalence of Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a tick-borne allergy to animal meat? A University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill modeling study is helping close in on this mysterious meat allergy that is on the rise.

An assistant professor in the infectious diseases division at the UNC School of Medicine and assistant professor of epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, Ross Boyce, is collecting information from a network of sources to strategically determine where and how to battle ticks and other insects that can change a person’s life for the worse with one bite, UNC reports.

Using a dataset of 462 AGS patients with confirmed AGS from UNC Health and models based on environmental factors, such as landcover and topography, the team assessed whether the risk of AGS is linked to habitat fragmentation often seen in open spaces and areas of low-density development in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

What is AGS?

Bites from the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) or the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis, also called deer ticks) can trigger AGS. Alpha-gal is a sugar molecule found in most mammals. After eating mammalian meat, people who become allergic to alpha-gal may experience an hours-long delay in symptoms, which include hives, swelling of lips, face, tongue or throat, stomach pain and nausea, UNC reports. It can also cause restricted breathing and death.