What to know about the CDC warning on rare tick-borne allergy to meat
Gabrielle M. Etzel
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified a rare, little-understood tick-borne illness as an emerging public health threat last week.
“Alpha-gal syndrome is an important emerging public health problem, with potentially severe health impacts that can last a lifetime for some patients,” Ann Carpenter, a CDC epidemic intelligence service officer for zoonotic diseases, said in a press release on Thursday.
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Here is everything you need to know about alpha-gal syndrome:
What is AGS and how is it different than other tick-borne diseases?
AGS is an allergic condition that is triggered by a sugar found in mammalian meat and other products. Red meat, as well as milk products and gelatin, can initiate a serious allergic reaction within two to six hours of exposure, causing itching, swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and a drop in blood pressure, among other symptoms.
The majority of scientific research on tick-borne diseases has focused on more common infections, such as Lyme disease and babesiosis.
Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne infection, presents itself with very different symptoms from AGS, including fevers, fatigue, and rash. Babesiosis presents with similar flu-like symptoms after the onset of a red blood cell infection. Both Lyme disease and babesiosis are caused by black-legged ticks, which primarily feed on white-tailed deer.
Although more research is necessary into the causes of AGS, the CDC says the allergy is derived from a bite of a lone star tick, which is increasingly outnumbering black-legged ticks in certain geographic areas.
What makes the response to AGS different than other tick-borne diseases?
The lack of general and scientific knowledge about AGS makes it more of a concern than other tick-borne illnesses.
A recent study conducted by Carpenter and others at the CDC showed that 42% of healthcare providers did not know about AGS and another 35% did not have confidence in their ability to identify or treat AGS successfully.
There were more than 110,000 identified cases of AGS in the United States from 2010 to 2022, according to the CDC. Many more reactions, however, went undiagnosed — bringing the total to 450,000, the agency estimates.
The number of positive diagnoses of AGS rose by 41% from 2017 to 2021, according to a CDC study.
“The burden of alpha-gal syndrome in the United States could be substantial given the large percentage of cases suspected to be going undiagnosed due to non-specific and inconsistent symptoms, challenges seeking healthcare, and lack of clinician awareness,” said Johanna Salzer, a CDC epidemiologist and a colleague of Carpenter.
What type of tick transmits AGS and where?
Lone star ticks have “long been noted as aggressive human biters,” according to a 2021 paper from the Delaware Journal of Public Health, but they have largely been overshadowed by ticks that cause other illnesses, such as Lyme disease.
As a result, the importance of lone star ticks has been largely unrecognized, leading to a dearth of effective control mechanisms.
Although the lone star tick is common to the Southern and Midwestern U.S., warmer temperatures and changes in land use patterns have allowed the lone star tick to head northeast, even venturing into parts of Canada.
What are public health experts doing about AGS?
The Public Health Agency of Canada told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday that it is anticipating lone star ticks and AGS to be an emerging problem for their population, and it has already taken measures to begin predicting where the pest is likely to have the greatest impact.
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“It’s critical for clinicians to be aware of AGS so they can properly evaluate, diagnose, and manage their patients and also educate them on tick-bite prevention to protect patients from developing this allergic condition,” Carpenter said in the press release.
The CDC did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on what it plans to do to improve awareness for both medical professionals and the public in the wake of this growing concern.