Tick Bites Hit Decade High, Meat Allergy Spreads

Alpha-gal, short for galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, is a sugar molecule carried by the lone star tick, a species now spreading rapidly through the northeastern United States. The syndrome was identified in the mid-to-late 2000s and is not new, said Sam Telford, a professor of infectious disease and global health at Tufts University; communities in the South and Midwest have lived with it for years, and what has changed is awareness. Researchers trace the wider tick boom to deer. Aubrey Stimola Ryan, who treats tick-bite patients at Martha's Vineyard Hospital, said white-tailed deer are the primary breeding ground for lone star ticks, and that one deer can feed 1,500 ticks in a single season, with each female tick laying 2,000 eggs.

Reactions can be severe, including anaphylactic shock, and some patients also react to dairy products, foods containing animal ingredients, or even the aroma of meat. One Martha's Vineyard restaurant owner created a separate menu without red meat. Telford said the allergy is finally persuading communities to reduce deer numbers after forty years of resistance, and that patients can sometimes reintroduce meat if they avoid further bites. Experts recommend a simple routine: treat clothing with permethrin, tuck pants into socks, and check the whole body twice a day, using a mirror if necessary. Ticks favor warm, hidden creases, according to the US Forest Service: the groin, underarms, navel and the backs of the knees; tick expert Tom Mather adds the waistband. Clothes worn outdoors should go into a hot dryer for ten minutes, and a shower is advised within two hours of coming inside.