Health professionals and patients around the country are worried about a rise in cases of alpha-gal syndrome. Sadly, this tick-borne meat allergy is on the rise. The rare disease has become one of the fastest-growing conditions, increasing from only a few dozen known cases in 2009 to an estimated 450,000 today. The sharp increase in lone star ticks is directly correlated to their spread into new territories. They’re taking advantage of a warming climate and pushing beyond their historic ranges in the southeastern U.S.
One person struggling with this malady is Heather O’Bryan, a home horticulturist from Roanoke, Virginia. In 2019, she had a scary allergic reaction after eating a pork sausage. It soon left her with full-body hives and difficulty breathing. It was a very scary situation, O’Bryan said. I didn’t realize I had an allergy but my lack of awareness almost killed me.
Specialists predict that alpha-gal syndrome will soon cover most of the eastern United States. Lone star ticks continue to spread widely throughout the eastern United States, explains Brandon Hollingsworth of the University of South Carolina. We’ve experienced such an explosive expansion of these ticks, that’s very alarming. Hollingsworth predicted that alpha-gal is going to grow. That’s huge—potentially the entire eastern half of the US—which means it would impact most of the areas in which ticks are established.
The lone star tick has benefited from warming temperatures due to climate change caused by human activity. Now, it is moving its range further north into territories previously believed too chilly. Laura Harrington, an entomologist and disease specialist at Cornell University, tells the Washington Post that the spread of these ticks is indeed dangerous. She thinks this trend will soon drive up the number of people with alpha-gal syndrome. “Between their adaptive characteristics and global warming, I don’t know what will stop these ticks in the future,” Harrington remarked.
The implications of this tick expansion go far past the numbers. Hanna Oltean, an epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Health, has found something noteworthy. She recently diagnosed a case of alpha-gal syndrome in Washington state that is associated with a local tick bite. She mentioned the possible role of the western black-legged tick in introducing the condition.
The list of symptoms attributed to alpha-gal syndrome can be both startling and extensive. Individuals suffer from hives and respiratory distress. Even more than their adult counterparts, they deal with anxiety and uncertainty as they make food choices that might lead to life threatening reactions. O’Bryan shared her personal struggle with dietary restrictions: “I’ve learned what I can eat now, but I was so sad when I realized I couldn’t have pizza again. I remember crying in front of a frozen pizza in the supermarket aisle.”
After her diagnosis in 2010, Sharon Pitcairn Forsyth was determined to increase awareness of alpha-gal syndrome. She has set up online resources to advocate for better food labeling and provide information for those affected by the condition. To this day, I get calls from doctors on this issue. Yet they are largely unaware, emphasizing the desperate need for heightened awareness among HCPs.
As more people are educated about alpha-gal syndrome, most tend to come out feeling anxious about the prospect of receiving a tick bite. O’Bryan shared her experience of talking to friends who are afraid that they’ve developed the disease after being bitten. Each of us personally knows someone afflicted. Once a week I sit on the other side of that screen and talk a friend down from the ledge when they freak out after getting bitten and think they might have it.
Even with increased awareness, many people are still confused about the condition and how to manage alpha-gal syndrome. Forsyth emphasized the urgency for research and funding to combat this emerging health issue: “There’s a tremendous urgency to confront this with new therapies, but the problem is we are going backwards in terms of funding and support in the U.S.”
As tick populations explode, anxiety about their presence is real among those like O’Bryan who encounter them daily. The ticks are bad this year, I’ve picked 10 ticks off of myself just this season. It seems even more so that they are out of control right now,” she said. Her sentiments reflect an increasing apprehension among many outdoors enthusiasts and residents in impacted communities.