The link between paralysis ticks and mammalian meat allergy

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A 16-year-old boy has died in New South Wales, Australia, after eating beef sausages on a camping trip. From the age of two, Jeremy Webb was repeatedly bitten by the Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus). Some who are repeatedly bitten go on to develop a life-threatening allergy to the sugar molecule alpha galactose (alpha-gal). Alpha-gal is present in the saliva and gut of ticks. This manifests as an allergy to red meats, but also includes gelatine, fats, cow milk and some exotic meats. Jeremy’s death is the first documented fatal case of mammalian meat allergy in the country and second in the world. The only other fatal documented case is of a 47-year-old New Jersey man. The photo is mine of a handsome bull we saw in France.