The Alpha-Gal Syndrome Story: How Researchers Traced a Red-Meat Allergy to Ticks

During the early 2000s, UVA allergist Thomas Platts-Mills saw patients suddenly allergic to red meat, experiencing hives, nausea, GI issues, shortness of breath, and sometimes anaphylaxis. Skeptical at first, he later connected their reactions to clues from cancer-drug allergies, ultimately identifying the condition as alpha-gal syndrome, a delayed allergic response triggered by a sugar molecule found in mammalian meat.