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46m ago

UVA Team Confirms First Fatality Tied to Tick‑Borne Meat Allergy

Researchers say postmortem testing links a 2024 New Jersey death to alpha‑gal syndrome, establishing the condition’s first confirmed fatality.

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Lone Star tick, which despite its Texas-sounding name, is found mainly in the Southeast. At least 100,000 people in the U.S. have become allergic to red meat since 2010 because of a weird syndrome triggered by tick bites. That's according to a new government report. But health officials believe more have the problem and don’t know it, and the actual number is more than than four times higher. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, July 27, 2023 released two reports on the growing tick-borne allergy problem. (James Gathany/CDC via AP)
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Overview

  • A 47-year-old New Jersey man died hours after eating a hamburger in 2024, two weeks after a similar delayed illness following steak on a camping trip.
  • An initial autopsy called it a sudden unexplained death, but a review prompted by his wife led UVA specialists to test stored blood.
  • Postmortem results showed IgE antibodies to alpha‑gal and an extremely high tryptase level consistent with fatal anaphylaxis.
  • Investigators note likely exposure from lone star tick larvae often mistaken for chiggers, with possible severity co‑factors including a beer and recent exercise.
  • The case, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, urges clinicians to evaluate severe abdominal pain 3–5 hours after red meat and highlights expanding tick and deer ranges linked to rising AGS risk.