A meat allergy caused by tick spit is getting more common, CDC says
CTV
More than 100,000 people in the U.S. have become allergic to red meat since 2010 because of a weird syndrome triggered by tick bites, according to a government report released Thursday.
More than 100,000 people in the U.S. have become allergic to red meat since 2010 because of a weird syndrome triggered by tick bites, according to a government report released Thursday. But health officials believe many more have the problem and don't know it.
A second report estimated that as many as 450,000 Americans have developed the allergy. That would make it the 10th most common food allergy in the U.S., said Dr. Scott Commins, a University of North Carolina researcher who co-authored both papers published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials said they are not aware of any confirmed deaths, but people with the allergy have described it as bewildering and terrifying.
"I never connected it with any food because it was hours after eating," said one patient, Bernadine Heller-Greenman.
The reaction, called alpha-gal syndrome, occurs when an infected person eats beef, pork, venison or other meat from mammals -- or ingests milk, gelatin or other mammal products.
It's not caused by a germ but by a sugar, alpha-gal, that is in meat from mammals -- and in tick spit. When the sugar enters the body through the skin, it triggers an immune response and can lead to a severe allergic reaction.
Scientists had seen reactions in patients taking a cancer drug that was made in mouse cells containing the alpha-gal sugar. But in 2011 researchers first reported that it could spread through tick bites, too.
Pressure is increasing on the provincial government to tap into the underused tolled Highway 407 to unclog congestion on Highway 401.
The first big snowfall of the season is blanketing towns in upstate New York along lakes Erie and Ontario in the middle of the hectic holiday travel and shopping weekend, while numbing cold and heavy snow could persist into next week and cause hazards in the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions.
Researchers in Montreal have made a breakthrough discovery in HIV research by finding a way to expel the virus from its hiding places and destroy it.
Concerns about the safety of candles are rooted in the chemical reactions that occur when you burn them, as well as in the artificial fragrances and colorants that contribute to the various scents you may love.