Tick-borne Meat Allergy: as Many as 1 in 4 Adults in Some States Carry Antibodies

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In some states as many as 1 in 4 adults may carry antibodies for a tick-borne meat allergy, according to new research.

Alpha-gal syndrome has been estimated to affect around 450,000 people in the US, but this new research indicates that many more people are likely to have been exposed to bites from the tick that causes the condition.

The condition is associated in particular with bites from the lone-star tick and causes sensitization to a sugar molecule in red meat—beef, pork and lamb—that can, in some cases, prove fatal.

The first documented fatality in the US occurred in 2024, when an otherwise healthy 47-year-old man died after eating a hamburger at a barbecue.

Science website Medical Xpress explains the new research: “To assess the risk of alpha-gal syndrome, researchers tested 3,000 blood samples collected between November 2024 and April 2025 from residents of 10 states.

“Results showed that the percentage of people carrying alpha-gal antibodies was highest in states where lone star ticks are well established.

“Arkansas had the highest levels, with nearly 1 in 3 residents (31%) carrying alpha-gal antibodies. Missouri followed with 26% of residents ‘sensitized’ to alpha-gal.

“All told, about 1 in 4 people (24%) could be expected to test positive for alpha-gal antibodies across the five states with the highest prevalence—Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.”

Older people (aged 55-64), men and people living in the rural areas were most likely to carry the antibodies.

The researchers now want to explore what makes a person with alpha-gal antibodies suffer the full-blown syndrome.

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