| An allergic condition in which people are allergic to alpha-gal, a sugar found in the tissues of all mammals except humans and other primates. When people who are allergic to alpha-gal eat beef, pork, lamb, or meat from other mammals, they have an allergic reaction that causes a range of symptoms, including a rash, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. In some cases, there may be an immediate life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. Many report that allergic symptoms to meat began after a series of tick bites. The tick species most often implicated in meat allergy have been Amblyomma americanum (the lone star tick) in the eastern, southeastern, and south-central parts of the United States and other species (Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes holocyclus, Amblyomma cajennense, Amblyomma sculptum, and Haemaphysalis longicornis) in other parts of the world. |
