Unexpected death after a hamburger. First death linked to rare allergic reaction to red meat

A 47-year-old man from New Jersey died last year from alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to red meat caused by a tick bite, Sky News writes.

Researchers believe it is the first documented death of its kind. Symptoms of alpha-gal syndrome, which in 2011 was first linked to Lone Star tick bites, can include hives, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, dizziness, and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or eyelids.

The reaction to the food that causes the symptoms can be delayed and usually manifests several hours later, unlike other food allergies, which appear immediately after consumption.

The new research follows the case of a healthy airline pilot who went on a trip with his wife and children in 2024. They had steak for dinner. This was unusual as he rarely ate meat.

Woke up at 2am with violent abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. The next day he had breakfast and took a walk of eight kilometers.

Two weeks later, back in New Jersey, he went to a barbecue, where he ate a hamburger. About four hours later, he became ill. A short time later, his son found him unconscious on the floor in the bathroom.

His son called an ambulance and was taken to hospital, but the man was pronounced dead that night.

Blood tests carried out by the researchers revealed signs of alpha-gal syndrome. But the evidence that it was acquired from a Lone Star tick is inconclusive.

Researchers made the connection after a statement from the man's wife said he had 12 or 13 “mite” bites near his ankles earlier this summer.

But the conclusion is plausible because people in the American East sometimes confuse mite bites with tick bites.

According to one estimate, from 2010 to the present, more than 100,000 people in the US have become allergic to red meat due to this syndrome.