Tick Bites, Red Meat, and Hives

October 27th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under
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    Ever heard of a sugar contained in red meat called alpha-galactosidase?  I never heard much about it except to know that it existed. If  you haven’t taken and advanced physiology class you probably haven’t heard about it either.

    Now, if you haven’t heard about ticks and problems from tick bites, I wonder where you have been living.  Everyone with a rash in the summer or a tick bite thinks they have Lyme disease.  Ticks can cause so many problems and now they can cause you to have a meat allergy.

    This was brought to my attention by a patient that sent me a link to this article from the Washington Post. Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills is a prominent allergist with an international reputation at the University of Virginia.  He has published a study of 24 patients from the south east with sudden meat allergy triggered by tick bites.

    If you have had a recent food allergy to meat - beef, lamb or pork - first avoid it. Second, read the article and ask your doctor to get you into the UVa. study on this meat allergy/tick bite problem.  If you have a meat allergy, I would like to hear from you. Leave me a comment or contact me.

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    1. Comment by David Damalouji on 29 October 2009:

      Thanks for the post. I recently got the symptoms after eating beef. Saw the article in The Washington Post and immediately got in touch with my GP and later an allergist. Blood tests confirmed severe allergy to beef, lamb and pork. Corresponded with one the researchers at UVA and will work through my allergist to have my blood tested for alpha-gal. Odd stuff, eh?