A bite from a Lone Star tick could give you a rash or even prevent you from eating red meat. Darren Nichols, from Rock Hill, is an avid hunter who loves the outdoors.
For the past year, he’s been seeing different doctors because his case is so rare they are using his blood for research. Nichols said he was on a hunting trip in Texas last summer when a Lone Star tick bit him on the back.
After dozens of visits to doctors, a blood test confirmed the tick gave him alpha-gal syndrome, a rare and incredibly severe meat allergy. Darren Nichols said he carries an EpiPen every day.
Even minimal exposure to meat makes him severely sick. The tick is native to Texas, but it is found in much of the eastern part of the U.S., including in the Carolinas.
Dr. Scott Commins at UNC-Chapel Hill, who specializes in allergies, told Channel 9 that 1 to 2 percent of people get alpha-gal syndrome from a tick bite.
In 2009, there were only about two dozen patients in the country with Alpha-Gal, but that number is on the rise. Experts say it’s possible for people to overcome the allergy, but doctors are still trying to find out why someone would develop a meat allergy from a Lone Star tick.