A lone star tick bite can cause a rare red meat allergy. About half of physicians never heard of it.
The lone star tick has been seen in Pennsylvania since 2011.
As many as 450,000 people across the U.S. may be living with a rare, lifelong red-meat allergy that’s caused by a tick bite, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The culprit, the lone star tick, has been reported in Pennsylvania for more than a decade.
Alpha-gal syndrome, or AGS, is a life-threatening condition associated with lone star tick bites that causes hypersensitivity to a sugar molecule found in foods that come from mammals, such as meat and milk.
The number of people who tested positive for AGS nationwide increased from 13,371 in 2017 to 18,885 in 2021 — a 40% rise — the CDC study found.
There is no treatment or cure, other than avoiding foods that can cause a reaction.
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As cases rise, the CDC is urging medical professionals to be vigilant. A CDC survey of 1,500 primary care doctors, pediatricians and other providers also published Thursday found that 42% haven’t heard of the tick-borne allergy. Only 5% of providers felt “very confident” in their ability to diagnose the syndrome.
More than 60% health care providers surveyed said that CDC guidelines for diagnosis and management of AGS would be helpful.
“It’s critical for clinicians to be aware of AGS so they can properly evaluate, diagnose, and manage their patients,” said Ann Carpenter, a CDC epidemiologist and lead author of the survey, in a statement.
The lone star tick has been spotted in 14 Pennsylvania counties since 2011, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Those include Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia. While the CDC study shows many Pennsylvania counties had low number of cases, the health department did not share specific case counts.
How to avoid tick bites
The most common tick in Pennsylvania carries a different disease: Lyme.
The state has a large population of blacklegged ticks, also known as the deer ticks, which contributes to high rates of Lyme disease every year, said Emily Struckhoff, a vector-borne disease specialist at Penn State Extension. Lyme is just one of the illnesses that ticks can transmit to humans or pets.
» READ MORE: What you need to know about ticks and Lyme disease
Struckhoff offered the following tips for staying tick-free while enjoying the outdoors:
Wear pants or long socks when in the woods or in tall grass
Use insect repellent
Treat your clothes with permethrin, a spray that makes ticks fall off clothing before they have a chance to bite
Check for ticks before returning inside
To remove a tick, use tweezers to grab it as close to the skin as possible and pull it straight up
“The best thing you can be doing is taking those steps to prevent tick bits in the first place,” Struckhoff said. “That’s the number one way to prevent any of those tick-borne diseases.