Allergy to red mammalian meat is relatively common in Africa and so are tick bites. I was recently shown a study by Platts Mills et al from USA in 2011 in which they suggested there may be a link between tick bites by the Amblyomma species of North American tick and the development of IgE antibodies to a galactoside common to mammalian meat (beef, pork and lamb) and ticks. This IgE antibody then leads to anaphylactic sensitisation to mammalian red meat with angioedema and urticaria or hives. 80% of the people studied who had developed sensitisation and allergies to red meat reported previously being bitten by a tick. To confuse the issue, the allergic reactions are often delayed occuring 3 to 6 hours after eating red meat, Similar reactions have been reported following tick bites in Australia. This “alpha Gal” IgE antibody production is switched on by tick bites and could explain the relatively high incidence of red meat allergy seen in indiginous Africans as ticks and tick bites are very common in Subsaharan African.
Study by Platts Mills et al (2008)
Latest research on tick bites and meat allergy
