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What to know about meat allergies caused by tick bites · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Back with this week's social story.
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  Speaker 2: How this works is we post three stories on social
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  Speaker 2: media and let you pick one for us to take
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  Speaker 2: a closer look at.
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  Speaker 1: These are the choices this week.
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  Speaker 2: The shooting death of Last Chance You football coach John Beam,
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  Speaker 2: the latest on a tick related death of a meat allergy,
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  Speaker 2: and did you drive or fly for Thanksgiving? And with
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  Speaker 2: forty two percent of the vote, you guys really wanted
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  Speaker 2: to learn about this tick related meat death.
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  Speaker 1: The first man Apparently it's ever happened to.
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  Speaker 2: A man from New Jersey believed we be the first
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  Speaker 2: documented death from alpha gal syndrome. It's a meat allergy
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  Speaker 2: caused by tick bites. So according to the Journal of
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  Speaker 2: Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the man became violently ill during
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  Speaker 2: a camping trip last year after eating steak. The first time,
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  Speaker 2: he recovered, and then he got seriously ill again after
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  Speaker 2: eating meat two weeks later and died.
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  Speaker 1: They're called lone star ticks.
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  Speaker 2: Apparently they're found mostly in the eastern part of the US,
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  Speaker 2: but their population is spreading. So let's bring in doctor
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  Speaker 2: Jennifer Meality is a board certified cardiologist and a part
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  Speaker 2: of our med unit here at ABC News. So doctor meial,
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  Speaker 2: what can you tell us about this alpha gal syndrome?
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me here. Unfortunately, this is really
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  Speaker 3: the first recorded fatality from alpha gal syndrome. Alpha gal
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  Speaker 3: syndrome is a potentially serious type of allergic illness that
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  Speaker 3: can happen after an individual develops a tick bite or
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  Speaker 3: has a tick bite or multiple tick bites, and then
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  Speaker 3: they become allergic to other alpha gal containing products such
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  Speaker 3: as red meat, and so when they consume this red meat,
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  Speaker 3: they then ramp up this initial allergic response that they
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  Speaker 3: got from their tick bite, and it can cause potentially
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  Speaker 3: very serious, potentially even fatal allergic reaction in the form
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  Speaker 3: of anaphylaxis, which is very very like threatening for sure.
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  Speaker 3: So what happens with alpha gel is a type of sorry.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, real quick. So what happens when somebod gets load
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  Speaker 1: star tick? Yeah? I mean like, is there?
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  Speaker 2: Is it immediate? Can you pluck it off? You still
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  Speaker 2: have time? What's how's all this work?
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  Speaker 1: Exactly?
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  Speaker 3: So it's really important to watch out for tick bites,
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  Speaker 3: especially when you guys are you know, going outdoors and
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  Speaker 3: hiking around. It's very important to remove the tick as
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  Speaker 3: soon as you see it. Alpha cal syndrome can cause
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  Speaker 3: symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and you know gi upset rash.
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  Speaker 3: It has this very characteristic sort of high rash that
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  Speaker 3: you can develop with this heightened immunologic response. Loan short
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  Speaker 3: tips can also be responsible for a variety of other
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  Speaker 3: illnesses tickborn illnesses, and these also include you know, erliosis
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  Speaker 3: and other sort of more widespread systemic symptoms nausea, vomiting, headache,
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  Speaker 3: and there's also like a very characteristic type of rash
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  Speaker 3: with it. People can also develop generalized weakness, especially for
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  Speaker 3: those with you know, compromised status. So for individuals whose
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  Speaker 3: immune systems are already weakened, their responses can actually even
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  Speaker 3: be more serious, which can lead to respiratory failure aka
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  Speaker 3: difficulty breathing, as well as a variety of neurological issues.
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  Speaker 2: So we know that the tick numbers are rising, especially
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  Speaker 2: in the East.
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  Speaker 1: What should people watch out for?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so the lone star tick is certainly something that's
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  Speaker 3: becoming more prevalent. As you mentioned, Aboard's typically found in
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  Speaker 3: the southeastern eastern United States, but there are even case
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  Speaker 3: reports of it in Delaware, for instance, and so it's
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  Speaker 3: really important to pay attention to ticks when when you
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  Speaker 3: are outdoors, which can be found in your backyard, on
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  Speaker 3: hiking trails, really any sort of woodsy area before going outdoors,
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  Speaker 3: make sure that your arms are covered up, that your
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  Speaker 3: legs are covered up. You can also even pre treat
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  Speaker 3: your clothing with permethrine, which is an anti tip repellent.
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  Speaker 3: And then also be sure to just check your check
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  Speaker 3: your pets for ticks as well when you guys are
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  Speaker 3: coming home after a walk. That's the best way to
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  Speaker 3: keep you and your left one safe.
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  Speaker 2: Do they look any different than like a typical tick?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, how do you know if you're being bitten
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  Speaker 2: by it? I don't know, like a typical tick or
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  Speaker 2: a usual tick versus this thing.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think you know a lone star tick.
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  Speaker 3: It does have a sort of like a like a
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  Speaker 3: starry appearance. But any sort of tick, it doesn't really matter.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, any sort of tick bite can really just
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  Speaker 3: make a lot of individuals feel a little bit bad,
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  Speaker 3: and it can also pause a rash, so it doesn't
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  Speaker 3: really matter. Just pull it off immediately as soon as
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  Speaker 3: you see it.
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  Speaker 2: But should you like collect it, did you bring it
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  Speaker 2: with you to the doctor's office. I mean, how I
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  Speaker 2: mean with this thing, it's pretty scary. Should when you
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  Speaker 2: pull off a ticks you try.
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  Speaker 3: And keep it the doctory Yeah, it is pretty scary.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 3: It's not part of the recommendations to try to keep
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  Speaker 3: it in a in a goody bag or something, but
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  Speaker 3: a lot of people do. But it's very important to
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  Speaker 3: know that, like, you know, to record the history of
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  Speaker 3: when you got the tick bite. That way you can
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  Speaker 3: talk to your doctor if you were to develop symptoms
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  Speaker 3: later on. That way you can add that to the
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  Speaker 3: history and say, you know, well, you know, just you know,
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  Speaker 3: a week or so ago or a few days ago,
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  Speaker 3: I noticed that I was, you know, I pulled a
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  Speaker 3: tick off my leg or like you know, I pulled
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  Speaker 3: a tick off my dog, And now I'm coming in
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  Speaker 3: with like this rash and headache and very non specific symptoms.
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  Speaker 3: And so that can really help doctors hone in on
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  Speaker 3: the diagnosis.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Jarner from Meal, thank you so much, appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me