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A zoomed-in view of a lone star tick, the most typical transmitter of alpha-gal syndrome within the United States.(Image credit: Kasey Decker via Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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A man from New Jersey has passed away in what appears to be the inaugural recorded fatal instance of alpha-gal syndrome, a meat-related allergy prompted by the stings of ticks.
In September of 2024, the 47-year-old individual became unresponsive roughly four hours after consuming a hamburger at a cookout, as noted by physicians in a report detailing the case. Despite efforts from both the man’s son and emergency medical technicians to revive him, his death was pronounced later that evening after arrival at the hospital.
The authors of the case report, who made the particulars of the case public on Thursday (Nov. 13) in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Practice, expressed the significance of documenting this lethal occurrence, given that numerous physicians in the U.S. remain uninformed regarding alpha-gal syndrome — especially as the ticks that most commonly propagate the ailment venture into fresh locales.
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“We posit that there exists a significant necessity for wider community awareness within zones where the tick’s presence is increasing,” they stated.
Alpha-gal represents a carbohydrate present within all mammals with the exception of humans along with some other primates. Concerning alpha-gal syndrome, the human immune system demonstrates an overreaction to this carbohydrate, giving rise to symptoms that span between minor to potentially fatal. These symptoms have the potential to include skin eruptions, regurgitation, gastric discomfort, troubled breathing, blood-pressure declines, vertigo, together with, in the most critical scenarios, anaphylaxis.
The stings of ticks have the capacity to initiate this hypersensitivity to alpha-gal, given their means of exposing an individual to the carbohydrate through the tick’s saliva, which in turn activates a series of reactions culminating in an extreme sensitivity targeted at the carbohydrate — essentially, an allergy. In this manner, at the time a person ingests a product incorporating alpha-gal, their system reacts excessively, irrespective of having consumed said product without problems on numerous occasions before being bitten by a tick.
Meats such as beef, pig, lamb, deer, also rabbit possess elevated concentrations of alpha-gal. Besides this, dairy products and goods derived from mammals — for instance gelatin, rendered pig fat, and sauces — may too possess sufficient quantities of the carbohydrate to provoke reactions among individuals experiencing the syndrome. Items from non-mammalian creatures, such as fowl, eggs, fish, and seafood, are void of alpha-gal.
Regarding the New Jersey man’s experience, it’s likely that his alpha-gal syndrome remained undetected owing to his family’s conventional intake of chicken, as recommended in the case report.
Within the weeks prior to his demise, the man spent time camping alongside his family, during which they dined on grilled beef steak. Roughly four hours later, he began suffering from severe stomach discomfort and could be found “writhing in agony, experiencing loose bowels in addition to vomiting.” His symptoms alleviated some hours later, and by the next day, he felt well enough to partake in a 5-mile (8 kilometers) stroll and consume breakfast.
A couple of weeks further on, upon the camping excursion’s end, the man along with his spouse went along to a barbeque, at which time he ate a burger. Once again, he initially reported feeling well for around four hours before experiencing gastrointestinal upset, and from that point forward, his symptoms moved quickly toward anaphylaxis.
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“That acute abdominal pain without any accompanying allergic indications possesses the ability to represent a noteworthy and undeniably hazardous manifestation of anaphylaxis remains relatively unacknowledged,” the case report authors wrote. Soon after the man’s death, a postmortem examination did not reveal definitive signs of anaphylaxis, and it was originally classified as a “sudden unexplained death.”
Following his death, the man’s spouse requested that her acquaintance Dr. Erin McFeely, a New Jersey-based pediatrician along with a co-author of the case report, examine the autopsy report. Upon review, the possibility that alpha-gal syndrome could serve as the reason was raised, leading them to communicate with specialists at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine residing in Charlottesville for more appraisal of the case.
Following examination of the man’s blood, it was shown that he harbored antibodies responding to alpha-gal, as well as significantly raised quantities of tryptase, an enzyme discharged by immune cells within the bloodstream during instances of allergic reactions. The UVA representatives inquired of the man’s spouse if he had recently been bitten by ticks, where she disclosed that while there were no tick bites within the past year, he had been bitten by chiggers.
While chiggers exist as a species of mite, not a variety of tick, the study authors pointed out that individuals will at times assume they’ve been bitten by chiggers when they’ve in truth been bitten by the larvae originating from lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum). Despite several tick species demonstrating the capability of propagating alpha-gal syndrome, the lone star tick represents the predominant culprit within the United States.
Importantly, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) act as a primary host to such ticks. Considering the increasing numbers of the deer population situated in New Jersey, the report authors pinpointed this aspect as one driving the surge in tick populations.
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“The significance of this case stems from a large and increasingly widespread number of individuals throughout the United States being subjected to the Lone Star tick, both in view of the tick venturing north and additionally, due to the proliferation of large populations of deer scattered among numerous states,” they detailed. They further expressed that the specific indications associated with an alpha-gal reaction might not alert sufferers to the actuality of its allergic nature, thereby delaying the receipt of crucial medical assistance.
“Despite the original instance alarming the patient, he coupled with his wife did not perceive it as being indicative of ”anaphylaxis,’ in this fashion, the pain was not associated with the beef eaten 4 hours beforehand,” they reported. “As such, there was no motivation to refrain from eating a hamburger on the subsequent occasion 2 weeks later.”
Disclaimer
This article serves purely informative intentions, and is not intended to provide medical guidance.
Nicoletta LaneseSocial Links NavigationChannel Editor, Health
Nicoletta Lanese serves in the role of health channel editor operating at Live Science and in the past has been a news editor and contributing writer within the site. She possesses a graduate certification in science related communication originating from UC Santa Cruz as well as certifications within neuroscience coupled with dance via the University of Florida. Her outputs are visible across The Scientist, Science News, the Mercury News, Mongabay including Stanford Medicine Magazine, together with other outlets. Currently based within NYC, she as well remains earnestly incorporated alongside dance as well as operates inside choreographers’ endeavors neighborhood.
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