Being bitten by a Lone Star tick can cause you to develop an allergy to red meat, even if it’s something you’ve eaten for your entire life, NPR reports.
According to the American College of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, “this specific allergy is related to a carbohydrate called alpha-gal and is best diagnosed with a blood test,” adding that it can often take hours after eating red meat products before “the appearance of an allergic reaction.”
Dr. Scott Commins, who was one of the first physicians to recognize the link between red meat allergies and Lone Star tick bites, told NPR that although 10 years ago there were just a few dozen known cases, today he said doctors are “confident the number is over 5,000 [cases], and that’s in the U.S. alone.”
Click here to read the entire article.
Source: NPR
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