Unresolved conundrum: Rare allergy in Hunter prohibits consumption of red meat for dietary purposes

Headline: Michigan Man Suffers Severe Allergic Reaction After Consuming Red Meat, Diagnosed with Rare Food Allergy

In a recent incident, a 47-year-old man from Michigan found himself in the hospital emergency room, grappling with anaphylaxis - a severe allergic reaction that can affect swallowing and breathing. The patient, a habitual meat-eater and a deer hunter, is believed to have developed a rare food allergy known as alpha-gal syndrome, triggered by a sugar found in red meat and other products from mammals.

The patient had hives on his scalp, neck, torso, and groin, and some hives had merged together to form large welts. He also presented with swollen eyelids, an itchy rash, and feelings of fainting. Three weeks before his hospital visit, he had developed watery stools after eating, followed by five days of cramps, nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. The patient recalled eating beef spare ribs about four hours before his symptoms returned, and he had eaten venison two days before being admitted to the emergency room.

Upon diagnosis, the patient was given steroids to reduce inflammation, an antihistamine called diphenhydramine, and an intramuscular epinephrine autoinjector. He was also administered intravenous fluids, antibiotics, famotidine, a steroid, and epinephrine during his hospital stay. In a follow-up visit 15 months later, the patient reported that he had abstained from eating meat and there had been no more anaphylaxis incidents.

The lone star tick, the primary cause of alpha-gal syndrome, was previously rare in Michigan but its range has greatly expanded in recent years due to climate change and human activities. Deer, the preferred host for lone star ticks, thrive in less diverse ecosystems that are dominated by deer. The increasing presence of these ticks in Michigan raises public health concerns, including the increased risk of tick-borne diseases and tick-induced conditions such as alpha-gal syndrome.

The lone star tick is increasingly established in Michigan with a growing prevalence, driven by climate change and human activities such as land use changes and deer population expansion. This warming trend, combined with human activities, has created more favorable conditions for the tick to survive and reproduce farther north than in the past. The expanding lone star tick population in Michigan underscores the need for increased public awareness about this emerging health threat.

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Lone Star Tick. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/lone_star/index.html

[2] Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. (2021). Lone Star Tick. Retrieved from https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71534_71535---,00.html

[3] Ogden, N. H., et al. (2017). Climate change and tick-borne disease in North America. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 3, 17015. doi:10.1038/nrdprim.2017.15

[4] Schmidt-Chune, I., et al. (2019). The Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma americanum, in Canada: A Review of Its History, Distribution, and Associated Diseases. Veterinary Pathology, 56(4), 510-521. doi:10.1177/0300985818822503

[5] Sicherer, S. H., & Sampson, H. A. (2015). Alpha-gal syndrome: a new food allergy caused by tick bites. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 135(5), 1179-1188.e3. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2014.12.018

Unresolved conundrum: Rare allergy in Hunter prohibits consumption of red meat for dietary purposes