Alpha-gal syndrome: A growing concern in Missouri and beyond
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A tick-borne allergy might be on the rise across Missouri and the United States. But scientists and researchers can't really pinpoint how much it may be growing.
Alpha-gal syndrome is a food allergy to products from mammals, like red meat, which contain the alpha-gal molecule, that a person can develop when bitten by the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum).
Alpha-gal (galactose-a- 1, 3-galactose) is a sugar molecule naturally found in most mammals, but not in humans.
"Alpha-gal syndrome is a food allergy, but it's a very unusual food allergy," said Dr. Benjamin Casterline, a dermatologist and immunologist with MU Health Care researching alpha-gal syndrome. "It has delayed symptoms, and the symptoms are very variable."
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, more than 110,000 suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome were documented between 2010 and 2022. These are classified as suspected cases because not every state tracks cases of alpha-gal syndrome.
Foods that can cause symptoms include beef, pork, lamb, venison, cow's milk and gelatin.
More common symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and hives. More severe symptoms include anaphylaxis, arthritis, neurological symptoms, headaches, brain fog and in the most extreme cases, death. Some people may not have any symptoms at all.
Symptoms often start a few hours after eating something containing the alpha-gal molecule, but can start sooner or later.
Alpha-gal syndrome isn't unique to the United States. Cases have been discovered in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Since the condition was discovered in 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also estimates that up to 450,000 people in the United States may have alpha-gal syndrome, with many not even knowing they have it.
In May, the Missouri General Assembly passed HB 1855, tacked onto HB 2372, which makes alpha-gal syndrome a reportable condition, requiring labs to send positive results to the Department of Health and Human Services within seven days to keep better track of where more cases are popping up.
The law is pending a signature from Gov. Mike Kehoe.
From 2017 to 2022, every Missouri county but five reported at least one suspected case of alpha-gal syndrome, with 71% out of the 114 Missouri counties and St. Louis city having more than 87 suspected cases per 1 million people.
Most of the states with the most suspected cases are in the Midwest and the South, like Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky and eastern Oklahoma and Kansas. There are also states on the East Coast with high levels of suspected cases, like Virginia, Delaware and North Carolina.
Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
According to the CDC, this year, 67 out of 100,000 visits to the emergency department were for tick bites in the Midwest. Emergency department visits for tick bites more than tripled from March to April 2026.
"Unfortunately, we don't really have any breakthrough treatments for alpha-gal syndrome," said Casterline. "Nothing has been specifically studied for alpha-gal syndrome except for lifelong dietary avoidance, which is a tall order for people."
And for some, like Rebecca McCorkle, who has been living with alpha-gal syndrome for around two decades, it is an order that dictates almost every decision she makes every day.
"When we go to visit family, we take our own pots and pans, when we go on vacation, we stay in Airbnbs, and we take our own pots and pans. When we do anything, that's what we have to think about," said McCorkle. "Every time that I turned around, I was having to pull out this laundry list of do's and don'ts, I thought, 'gosh, I'm not the fun, easy person that I used to be.'"
Watch ABC 17 News at 6 on Wednesday to hear more about how alpha-gal is changing life for some Mid-Missourians.
