Your Love For Meat Could Be Threatened By A Tick: New Jersey Records First Death

A 47-year-old New Jersey man is the first documented fatality from alpha-gal syndrome, the tick-induced “meat allergy,” researchers reported Thursday after confirming he died hours after eating a hamburger in summer 2024.

Alpha-gal syndrome can develop after a Lone Star tick bite sensitizes people to a sugar found in mammalian meat and dairy, leading to delayed allergic reactions that range from hives and stomach pain to life-threatening anaphylaxis, according to the CDC. (RELATED: Vegan Cory Booker Says Meat Eaters’ Days Are Numbered)

“The important information for the public is: First, that severe abdominal pain occurring 3 to 5 hours after eating beef, pork or lamb should be investigated as a possible episode of anaphylaxis; and, second, that tick bites that itch for more than a week or larvae of ticks often called ‘chiggers’ can induce or increase sensitization to mammalian-derived meat,” said Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, the University of Virginia allergist who led the investigation.

390650 06: A Close Up Of An Adult Female Deer Tick, Dog Tick, And A Lone Star Tick Are Shown June 15, 2001 On Book Print. Ticks Cause An Acute Inflammatory Disease Characterized By Skin Changes, Joint Inflammation, And Flu-Like Symptoms Called Lyme Disease. (Photo By Getty Images)

The man first fell violently ill about four hours after a late steak dinner on a family camping trip, then recovered the next morning, researchers said. Two weeks later he ate a hamburger at a barbecue, became sick that evening and was found collapsed in the bathroom; an initial autopsy listed “sudden unexplained death.” Postmortem blood testing later showed sensitization to alpha-gal and markers consistent with fatal anaphylaxis.

UVA Health said the case is the first confirmed death tied to the “meat allergy,” with full clinical details published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. The paper’s authors conclude it is “the first well-documented death related to eating mammalian meat in a patient with specific IgE to alpha-gal.”

Health officials say prevention starts with avoiding tick bites and recognizing that AGS symptoms often hit hours after eating red meat, not immediately like typical food allergies. The CDC notes alpha-gal is found in most mammals but not people, and reactions can also be triggered by some dairy products and other mammal-derived items.