Los Angeles Times: How the aggressive lone star tick unleashed a hidden meat allergy on millions of Americans

“How the aggressive lone star tick unleashed a hidden meat allergy on millions of Americans” - Los Angeles Times, October 2026

The tick-borne allergy was discovered only in 2007, and researchers still can’t say why some immune systems go haywire and some don’t. A delayed reaction adds to the muddle because most victims don’t get sick until hours after eating, and weeks or months after the tick bite. There’s no known cure.

“It’s enigmatic enough that it’s almost the stuff of sci-fi or fantasy,” said Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, a University of Virginia School of Medicine allergist and immunologist who has treated nearly 1,000 alpha-gal patients. Many were dumbfounded to discover that food they’d enjoyed all their lives suddenly made them deathly ill.