It Begins as a Tick Bite and Can Be Devastating. And It's Spreading.

[Coventina]

A decade ago, Scott Curatolo-Wagemann knew of only one person stricken with a tick-borne ailment called alpha-gal syndrome — the husband of his wife’s cousin.

The list has since grown in his corner of Long Island: His sister, who was bitten this past summer, has it. So does his sister’s best friend. Then there’s the mother of a boy on his son’s baseball team. The phlebotomist at the Labcorp office where he gets blood drawn has it.

And, yes, Mr. Curatolo-Wagemann has alpha-gal, too.

Once regarded as a rarity, the disease, which involves an allergy to red meat that develops after a tick bite, has emerged as a significant health menace, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that as many as 450,000 people nationwide may have had it in the past 15 years. And that is probably an undercount, said Dr. Scott Commins, who helped solve the mystery of alpha-gal syndrome about two decades ago.

More recently, Dr. Commins was involved in testing, largely at random, 3,000 samples from blood donors in 10 states for alpha-gal antibodies. A forthcoming study shows that in Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri, nearly 30 percent of samples tested positive, although that doesn’t mean that all — or even most — had allergic symptoms, he said.''''

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/nyregion/alpha-gal-meat-allergy-deaths.html?

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The planet is sick and tired of us, and is actively trying to kill us.
I don't blame it a bit!

[Earthrise]

1. I'm picturing herds of cows

dancing in conga lines. 🐮🐮🐮🐮

[Ilsa]

9. And reminding us with signs that say "Eat mor chikin." nt

[RockRaven]

2. Can you imagine the conspiracy theorizing which would ensue if a bunch of RW/manosphere figures

like Joe Rogan, Alex Jones, etc came down with this?

[lonely bird]

11. RFK Jr.

Oh, please, please, please.

[ret5hd]

3. How do i enlist on the planets side?

[highplainsdem]

4. Two of my relatives in SW Missouri have this.

[Amethyst Ring]

5. My husband's got it.

No more meat except poultry. No dairy, no gluten but that's old news.

Anybody got some good chicken recipes?

[Old Crank]

10. Alton Brown has one

A one pot with chicken shallots and garlic.
Not sure if it is on the web. It is on his book. I'm just here for the food.

Good luck.

[highplainsdem]

18. The simplest chicken recipe I know of, which I got from my brother's mother-in-law, is baked

chicken leg quarters with the skin sprinkled with celery salt and onion powder. Bake in a foil-lined pan deep enough to hold some grease. at 350 degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes. The fat will bake out of the skin and baste the meat, which will be very juicy and tender and flavorful.

[mwmisses4289]

6. It actually started being noticed in the mid 1980's.

A woman doctor noted several of her patients were coming in, complaining of allergic reactions to red meat. She began investigating, and it led to the discovery of the lone star tick bite being the main culprit.
I have it. It can be a pain.
For me, red meat includes beef and veal, pork, mutton and lamb. Oddly, poultry and seafood are fine, and venison.
I really, really miss being able to eat steak and beef burgers. I usually sub turkey or chicken for red meat.

[highplainsdem]

16. You can eat venison? That's usually a problem with this allergy.

[mwmisses4289]

21. Just know the one time I tried it a few years ago, it didn't seem to cause any issue.

Beef and pork on the other hand...oy.

[Americanme]

7. My daughter-in-law has it.

[DFW]

8. Scary for me

Since red meat is taboo for me, it would be a long while before I would be diagnosed, if I had it. I assume that, like with most of these tick-borne diseases, they fester and silently grow inside the host before suddenly bursting out with devastating effect, such as with Lyme Disease.

[highplainsdem]

12. Not just red meat (beef, pork, lamb) but any products made with animal fat, and cow's milk and any

products made with milk.

Editing to add goat's milk, too.

People with alpha gal syndrome are often less allergic to dairy than to meat.

More info here:

https://www.cdc.gov/alpha-gal-syndrome/data-research/products-containing-alpha-gal/index.html

One of my nieces and my nephew's wife both have it. Both are in their 30s, have had it a couple of years, no signs of recovery yet.

[DFW]

14. That is downright frightening n/t

[highplainsdem]

15. My relatives in Missouri are all very much into outdoor activities - hiking, fishing, kayaking, riding.

All of which are much riskier now.

The good news for people who have alpha-gal is that they can sometimes recover if they can go years without another tick bite.

[Warpy]

13. What makes this so unusual is that it appears to be an infectious allergy

It isn't transmitted from person to person, it requires a tick as a vector. Once it develops, it turns into an often deadly allergy to mammal meat. Birds, eggs, fish, and veggies can be eaten safely, but those steaks and roasts are out, along with breakfast and lunch meats.

The good news is hat the allergy can disappear in some people. The bad news are that it often takes years to go away and in a significant number of people, it never goes away.

I suppose I'm a little surprised by how fast it has spread from the southern plains to the east, even though such a spread was predicted. I guess ticks have been hitching a lot of rides on vehicles.

It's still fairly rare. Just know the danger signs of severe allergic reaction, anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Yes, I want you to look it up.

Bottom line: if you get it, you won't starve. Some substitutes, like chicken and apple and chicken sausage, can be great. You will get enough B-12. Greens will give you plenty of iron. It might even go away, allowing you a ham sandwich, beef steak, or bison burger a few years down the road. Just be aware that this is out there, what the severe symptoms are, and what to do if the worst happens.

[wnylib]

17. No luncheon meat? What about sliced deli turkey

and things made with turkey, e.g. sausage and pepperoni?

[highplainsdem]

19. Lunchmeat and sausage made from chicken and turkey should be fine.

[wnylib]

20. Good grief. Hope I never have to deal with this allergy.

I already have a list of foods that I can't eat due to allergies. Then there are others that I limit or avoid due to watching cholesterol and solid fat intake. Then there are some that I avoid or eat in very small amounts on rare occasions due to interactions with one of my meds.

Among my food allergies are some calcium rich veggies, so I count on milk and low fat cheese for calcium.

I am at least familiar with the signs of anaphylaxis, having experienced it twice, both times caused by allergists who were skeptical of my warning to them about some of my allergen reactions. Yes, I immediately wrote off both doctors as incompetent -- after I received epinephrine shots and recovered.

[highplainsdem]

22. Sorry you have to avoid so many foods. I often limit wheat as much as possible because I'll get

mild allergy symptoms from that, but they're respiratory symptoms and pretty mild - sneezing and watery eyes (I'll notice tree pollen a lot more if I've been eating wheat). I'll sometimes have pizza anyway, and I couldn't resist the carrot cake at my nearest grocery store's very good bakery this week, but I'll often go months without eating wheat...and then go back to eating it again until the allergy symptoms are just too annoying.

I've never had anaphylaxis. It sounds terrifying.

[mwmisses4289]

23. Just make sure you check ingredients, as anyone living with allergies know to do.

Some sausages made with chicken may also contain beef or pork. Same with lunch meat.
It does get easier to deal with over time.