Red meat allergy from tick bites

Alpha-gal.
Here is a link to Sharol Tilgner's article and one to wikipedias.
https://youarethehealer.org/ticks-and-chiggers-causing-severe-alpha-gal-meat-allergy/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_syndrome

Two of our family members have tested positive.

My husband and I have been bitten by so many ticks since the early seventies...scary numbers, looking back. And ten years ago both had tick fever.

For the last 8 years though have been bitten only a handful of times.

Not sure if I want to get tested?
We don't eat red meat at all but have a wonderful source of raw milk for yogurt and cheese that I don't want to give up...and have not noticed any allergic reactions.

Is anyone familiar with this?

I find it interesting that the Alpha-Gal syndrome is mostly associated with the Lone-Star tick but other types haven't been ruled out yet.

I only heard about it, but I have a slightly off topic thought: it's interesting that in some contexts poultry and seafood (including fish) is considered "not meat", and in this Wikipedia article it says that it doesn't have this apha-gal. Years ago, vegetarians used to eat fish and poultry. Maybe it was their intuitive response to an allergic reaction, before this syndrome was known?
In many Mexican restaurants, the choice was "poultry or meat" ;)

The article says that treatment is desensitization, but only two patients are reported to be successfully desensitized. I did this with my allergy to grass pollen, which took several years but was successful in the end; and then my other allergies slowly disappeared too (I had mostly respiratory or skin reactions to pollen, cats etc, but some food allergies too, including beef).

Interesting. As a kid, I accepted tick bites as routine.

One thing I've read is that for the spirochetes that cause Lyme Disease to infect you, you have to leave the tick on the bite for about 24 hours so that they can get full and start regurgitating some of their fluids back into you. I don't know if that's true for all the kinds of infections ticks might bring to bear, but it would account for how *few* people get sick after tick bites. I am literally bitten thousands of times per year by ticks because they're thick outside where I live. But we do tick-checks every night before bedtime, so that the longest they ever get to stay dug in 12 or so hours.

A friend got it a few years ago. His allergic reactions to mammal meat were pretty severe. It took him a while to figure out what was happening. Alpha-gal hadn't yet made the news. If his reactions are typical, it would be impossible to have it and not realize something is wrong. He avoided mammal meat for a couple years before trying small tastes again. He had no reactions after the abstinence period, so apparently it can subside.

I have no personal experience with this issue, but a doctor I follow (Dr. Ken Berry) on YouTube says that this is a reaction to mammal meat and fish/poultry/eggs will be fine.  He also says that the effect will last 3-12 months and will go away naturally.  If you are ever affected, you can try some meat periodically to see if you are past the problem.

Thanks everyone for all the information!

It seems there are different levels of reaction...from anaphalexic shock (what our ex DIL had) to mild stomach upset, but whichever reaction it happens hours later so hard to connect to the food causing it.

Apparently dairy can cause a reaction also as can other animal products?

My cousin's husband has had this for five years or more now. His reaction is severe and immediate. I think he cannot even touch red meat.

I remember an interesting Radiolab about this:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?i=1000544575277

I know many permies get nervous about genetically engineered foods, but gal-safe pigs were just approved last year for consumption, and are now available to buy for people affected by alpha-gal syndrome.

I think they might have adapted the technology to some poultry products as well based on the website.

Fossil Farms

I am pretty sure you can order a half or whole pig for the freezer.

Maybe this will help if you are open to it.

Edit, further explanation: they are completely 100% pig. No other organism's DNA has been inserted. Alpha-Gal syndrome occurs because the tick's saliva has a substance that causes an allergic reaction. Red meat has a substance (alpha-gal sugar) which is similar to the substance in the saliva so once a body develops an allergy to the saliva, it begins to recognize red meat as an allergen as well. This accounts for the variability in symptoms. People have different levels of allergies, and some people's allergies get worse with every exposure while other people's do not.

These pig's genetic editing was simply to remove the Alpha-Gal gene from their genome. Nothing else about the pigs were changed. Nothing was added to their DNA (like many other GE animals where DNA from other organisms is inserted). They are 100% pig, just minus the allergen. So they are not triggering the allergic reaction.

Hopefully this helps, I just found out about Alpha-Gal syndrome earlier this year, and I can't believe it has been affecting so many people in America right under our nose without us knowing. I am glad a solution has been invented without much trouble, but because of pop culture many people are averse to trying it.