Alpha-Gal Syndrome is a new meat allergy that has been triggered by ticks. A New Jersey resident may be the first person to die from it.
According to researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in New Jersey and Hackensack Meridian Health, the man was in good health when he died.
He went camping in the summer 2024 with his family. After eating beef for dinner, the man woke up in the middle night feeling abdominal pain. This led to nausea and other symptoms.
The man and his wife discussed contacting a physician, but decided to wait until his health improved. The man and his spouse attended a barbeque in New Jersey in September two weeks after the incident, during which the husband ate a hamburger. ABC News said.
In September of the same year, he attended a barbeque and ate hamburgers. He was discovered unconscious in his bathroom four hours later. He was transported to the hospital and paramedics tried to revive him. However, he died upon his arrival.
After inconclusive tests, the cause of death initially was ruled “sudden unexplained deaths”. A doctor forwarded the man’s autopsy to an allergist for further examination.
The specialist used blood samples to determine that the patient had an extremely severe reaction from Alpha-Gal Syndrome. This alarming disease spread by ticks is spreading across the United States.
His wife replied that he was bitten in the past by ticks and, in fact, had 12 to 13 bites on his ankles earlier this summer. According to researchers, the bites that are commonly mistaken for “chiggers”, in Eastern United States, can be larvae from lone-star ticks.
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is an emerging allergic condition in which the immune system develops IgE antibodies to galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal), a sugar molecule found in most mammalian meat, including pork, beef, venison and more, according to the Mayo Clinic. The symptoms of the disease can range from itching and hives to anaphylaxis.
Contrary to other food allergies that are common, the reactions usually do not begin until between 2 and 6 hours after exposure.
The only way AGS can be spread is through Lone Star ticks. In recent years the tick’s distribution has expanded rapidly. It now covers the Eastern U.S., from Florida to Maine, and then westwards to central Texas, the Dakotas and northern Mexico. Researchers have warned that the range will continue to expand in many directions.
CDC’s tick surveillance report for November 2025 reports lone-star tick detections since 2023 in nine new counties in the north, including in first established populations of southern Michigan, Eastern Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. AGS has increased by 300% since 2017. There are 110,000 suspected AGS cases across the United States, according to CDC.
